Black Drongo

Dicrurus macrocercus Vieillot, 1817

28 cmLength38 cmWingspan48 gWeight

It is a glossy black bird with a broadly forked tail, attacking crows and raptors that enter its territory.

Busiest months: February · Most records: India, China, Thailand

Looks like Ashy Drongo

Least Concern

How to identify

Field marks

Smooth, glossy black overall
Tail with a broad fork
Adults often have a small white spot at the base of the gape
Iris dark brown, red in Ashy Drongo

Male, female and young

Sexes difficult to distinguish in the field; juveniles are brownish and may have white barring or spots from the belly to the vent.

Voice

Most often a paired “tee-hee”, resembling the call of Shikra.

Similar species

Ashy Drongo

Its iris is dark brown, whereas Ashy Drongo has a red iris.

Where and when it's recorded

Busiest months: February · Most records: India, China, Thailand

Black Drongo has been recorded at 1,680 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 23 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

GKVK CampusIndia9,204 records
Kanha NP – Mukki ZoneIndia6,411 records
Changaram Wetlands – EzhupunnaIndia5,179 records

More places

Taipei – Tianliaoyang WetlandTaiwan (China)4,942 records
Krishnampudur AreaIndia4,363 records
Saul Kere / Sowl KereIndia4,152 records
Kerala Agricultural UniversityIndia3,847 records
Bharatpur – Keoladeo Ghana NPIndia3,828 records
Panchayat Union Middle School, KrishnampudurIndia3,573 records
Taipei – National Taiwan University Main CampusTaiwan (China)3,534 records

Countries and regions with the most records

India China Thailand Nepal Cambodia Bangladesh Vietnam Laos

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The black drongo (Dicrurus macrocercus) is a small Asian passerine bird of the drongo family Dicruridae. It is a common resident breeder in much of tropical southern Asia from southwest Iran through Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka east to southern China and Indonesia and accidental visitor of Japan. It is an all black bird with a distinctive forked tail and measures 28 cm (11 in) in length.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

Questions

How big is the Black Drongo?

The Black Drongo is about 28 cm long, with a wingspan of 38 cm and weighs around 48 g.

Where does the Black Drongo live?

Its breeding range: Oriental: southeastern Iran and northeastern Afghanistan to northeastern China, Taiwan (China), and Vietnam; disjunctly Java and Bali. It is most often recorded in India, China and Thailand.

When is the best time to see the Black Drongo?

At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in February (Northern Hemisphere).

Is the Black Drongo endangered?

The IUCN Red List classifies the Black Drongo as Least Concern.

What does the Black Drongo eat?

Main food: Insects & other invertebrates.

What family is the Black Drongo in?

It belongs to the family Drongos (Dicruridae), order Passerines (Passeriformes).

At a glance

Length: 28 cm
Wingspan: 38 cm
Weight: 48 g
Habitat: Shrubland
Diet: Insects & other invertebrates
Lifestyle: Perches in trees
Migration: Resident (barely migrates)
Conservation: Least Concern

More measurements

Wing: 141 mm
Tail: 146 mm
Bill: 25 mm
Tarsus: 22 mm

Averages from the AVONET dataset; length from field guides where available.

Range

Oriental: southeastern Iran and northeastern Afghanistan to northeastern China, Taiwan (China), and Vietnam; disjunctly Java and Bali

Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2

Subspecies · 3

Dicrurus macrocercus albirictus se Iran and e Afghanistan to n India, se Tibet and nw Myanmar
Dicrurus macrocercus cathoecus c, e, s China to e Myanmar, n Thailand and n Indochina
Dicrurus macrocercus harterti Taiwan (China)