Drongo is a bird, or rather, the general name of 20 species of birds belonging to the order Sparrow. 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 harmonious bird with a length of 18 to 40 cm. Landing is always vertical. The tail is long, sometimes shaped like a fork. Thanks to the extreme long tail feathers on the wing and tail, the bird is easily recognizable. In addition, the head of many species has a small crest. Sometimes protruding feathers are in front of the beak and block the nasal openings.
The beak is quite strong, has a small hook on the top.
The drongo bird often imitates the voices of other birds, it also makes its own sounds - usually it's a rude rattling trill or a separate tweet.
The masonry consists of two, three or four motley eggs in a bowl nest built on tree branches. Both parents are zealous guards who aggressively protect offspring from outsiders' attacks. Moreover, they can attack birds of prey larger and stronger than themselves.
The habitat of the Drongo is extensive - it is the tropics and subtropics of South Asia, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Australia and Oceania. Three species of drongo live on the African mainland.
The habitats of birds are shrubs of savannah and trees of forest-steppes, as a rule, of flat areas. It can live in parks, often found in human settlements.
What does the drongo bird look like
Drongo males and females are almost indistinguishable in appearance. Typical drongo can be called mourning. This is a completely black bird about 25 cm long with red eyes.
In other drongos, the black plumage may have a metallic shade - greenish or purple.
However, there is a gray drongo. He has a plumage of dark gray color, a white abdomen and a head. Also, the drab drongo has a pale gray color of plumage. Bright green spots on the head and a feather cast in green by the motley drongo.
There is also a paradise drongo. This is the most beautiful and largest of the representatives of the Drongov family.
The body length of this bird can reach 63-64 cm. It has plumage, casting a bright blue-green, as well as a crest bending backwards. Most subspecies have elongated tail processes, for which the whole species was named similar to a bird of paradise.
Hunting
Drongo bird feeds on insects, catching them on the fly among the crowns of trees. They can look for prey sitting on fences and telephone wires near human housing. Drongo are skilled flyers, and long tail and steering feathers help them in this. Therefore, they can pursue the victim, skillfully tacking on the fly or sinking to the ground. In the diet they have beetles, mantises, butterflies, dragonflies, cicadas. Drongos willingly eat termites and even migrate with them.
The bird can hunt both small birds and fish swimming on the surface of water bodies.
In the evening and at night, sources of fire attract them, as night butterflies and moths curl around lamps or lanterns.
And mourning drongos living in countries near the Sahara Desert adapted to accompany herds of large animals such as elephants and rhinos that go through tropical African thickets. Clouds of insects flying over the bodies of huge animals serve as an excellent food supply for these birds. They can only not yawn and catch the alarmed flying arthropods.
Cunning
Scientists define Drongo's wit as being very impressive. This bird can predict the reaction of other animals to certain events and thereby build their behavior. Zoologists suggest that this 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. In fact, after all, the drongo bird does not possess 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 mental abilities and develop them in order to survive.
The funeral or forked drongo, which was 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 estimate that stolen food can make up a quarter of the Drongo's diet. By giving the meerkats a signal of danger, they force them to be distracted or flee from a nonexistent predator.
The same thing happens with weavers - birds that get their own food in the form of small insects, swarming in the ground. Those also have to pay the Drongo a kind of “vigilance tax”.
Moreover, both desert mongooses and weavers are forced to believe the Drongo. Because they do not always deceive and often give truthful signals. Truly, the Drongo are the most cunning of birds!