Black Drongo : The knight in shining armour

Along with being aggresive in nature , this bird is immensely courageous too. It never hesitates to storm upon any bird of prey that invades its territory. Due to this behaviour many small birds often nest in the protected vicinity of a nesting black drongo.

                          Here are some details about this fearless fellow:

Common name: Black drongo , king crow , kotwal (policeman) , bhujanga.

Scientific name: Dicrurus macrocercus

Identification:

• It is a glossy black bird with a wide fork to the tail.
• Both male and female look similar. It is difficult to identify them separately in the field.

Habitat: It lives in open forests , farmlands and slightly wooden habitats near water.

Food: 

• They feed mainly on insects such as grasshoppers , termites , bees , ants , dragonflies , etc.
• Sometimes they prey on small birds , reptiles and bats.

Nesting trees: They prefer large leafy trees for nesting ( like neem , arjun tree ).

Social behaviour: 

• Shows aggressive behaviour towards large birds of prey.
• They mimic the call of shikra to steal prey from other birds (like myna).
• Farmers attract them to fields to encourage them to feed on pest insects. 

IUCN Status: Least concern.

Photographs by : Yamini Dashora.