Drongo is a bird, or rather, the common name of 20 species of birds belonging to the Sparrow order. Within the family, representatives of this species are subdivided into two more orders - ordinary drongo and Papuan drongo. The latter are quite rare and live only in the New Guinean highlands.
Description
Drongo bird is a small, slender feathered bird with a length of 18 to 40 cm. Landing is always vertical. The tail is long, sometimes shaped like a fork. Due to the extremely long tail feathers on the wing and tail, the bird is easily recognizable. In addition, many species have a small crest on their heads. Sometimes protruding feathers are in front of the beak and close the nasal openings.
Beak is quite strong, has a small hook on top.
The drongo bird often imitates the voices of other birds, it also makes its own sounds - usually these are rude rattling trills or a separate chirp.
The clutch consists of two, three or four variegated eggs in a bowl nest built on tree branches. Both parents are zealous guards, aggressivelyprotecting offspring from the attacks of strangers. However, they can attack birds of prey larger and stronger than themselves.
The habitat of the drongo is extensive - these are the tropics and subtropics of South Asia, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Australia and Oceania. Three species of drongo live on the African mainland.
Bird habitats - savannah bushes and forest-steppe trees, usually flat terrain. May inhabit parks, often found in human settlements.
What does a drongo bird look like
Drongo males and females are virtually indistinguishable in appearance. A typical drongo can be called mourning. This is a completely black bird with a length of about 25 cm with red eyes.
Other drongos may have a metallic greenish or purple plumage.
However, there is also a gray drongo. It has a dark gray plumage, white belly and head. Also, the dwarf drongo has a pale gray plumage color. Bright green spots on the head and a greenish feather in a motley drongo.
There is also a heavenly drongo. This is the most beautiful and largest member of the Drong family.
The body length of this bird can reach 63-64 cm. Most of the subspecies have elongated tail processes, for which the whole species was named similar to the bird of paradise.
Hunting
Drongo bird feeds on insects, catching them on the fly among tree crowns. They can look out for prey by sitting on fences and telephone wires up close.human habitation. Drongos are skilled flyers, with their long tail and tail feathers helping them out. Therefore, they can pursue the victim, skillfully maneuvering on the fly or sinking to the ground. In their diet, they have beetles, praying mantises, butterflies, dragonflies, cicadas. Drongo willingly eat termites and even migrate with them.
The bird can hunt both small birds and fish floating on the surface of water bodies.
In the evening and at night, sources of fire attract them, as night butterflies and moths hover around lamps or lanterns.
And mourning drongos, living in countries near the Sahara desert, have adapted to accompany herds of large animals such as elephants and rhinoceros, walking through tropical African forest thickets. Clouds of insects flying over the bodies of huge animals serve as an excellent food base for these birds. All they have to do is not to yawn and catch alarmed flying arthropods.
Cunning
Scientists define the drongo's quick wits as quite impressive. This bird can predict the reaction of other animals to certain events and thereby build its own behavior. Zoologists suggest that this feathered bird is even able to establish causal relationships in the actions of other animals. He is easily trained by circumstances. And the reason for this was the course of evolution. Indeed, the drongo bird does not have outstanding physical data that help it in the struggle for existence. She is a predator, but the predator is rather weak. You have to use your thinking abilities and develop them,to survive.
The mourning or fork-tailed drongo, which has already been mentioned above, for example, became famous for its ability to appropriate the "legitimate" prey of meerkats (one of the representatives of the mongoose family) or some birds. Zoologists have calculated that stolen food can make up a quarter of a drongo's diet. By giving the meerkats a signal of danger, they cause them to be distracted or flee from a non-existent predator.
The same thing happens with weavers - birds that get their food in the form of small insects, rummaging in the ground. Those also have to pay a kind of "vigilance tax" to the drongo.
Moreover, both desert mongooses and weavers are forced to believe drongos. Because they do not always deceive and often give truthful signals. Truly, drongos are the most cunning among birds!
