Drongos
| Drongos | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Philippine drongo ( Dicrurus balicassius ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the family | ||||||||||||
| Dicruridae | ||||||||||||
| Vigors , 1825 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Dicrurus | ||||||||||||
| Vieillot , 1816 |
The Drongos (Dicruridae) are a family of songbirds found in tropical and subtropical regions of Africa , Asia and Australia . The family includes only the genus Dicrurus and 25 species .
features
Drongos are 18 to 36 cm tall and usually have black, bluish iridescent or matt dark gray plumage. The trunk is cylindrical-oval and is held in a relatively upright position while sitting on a branch. There is no clear gender difference. A striking feature is the usually clearly forked tail, which ends in two conspicuous decorative feathers in some species. The head is medium in size, the neck short and thick. The wings are long. The legs are short, the feet are small. Drongos have a powerful voice and can emit a large repertoire of sounds.
Habitat and way of life
Drongos live in more or less dense forests, in tree savannahs and gardens. They mainly eat insects and often form mixed groups with other bird species when foraging in order to catch the insects that fly away from the other birds. Some species of drongo are also kleptoparasites . The reproductive behavior has only been researched in a few species. You are likely monogamous. Both sexes take part in nest building, breeding and feeding the young birds. The cup-shaped nests are built from grass, roots, other plant material and cobwebs and camouflaged with lichens. The breeding area is defended aggressively. A clutch consists of one to five eggs. The breeding period is 13 to 20 days, the young birds leave the nest after 15 to 22 days and are completely independent four to seven weeks after they fled.
species
- Genus Dicrurus
- Straight-tailed drongo ( D. ludwigii )
- Gloss drongo ( D. atripennis )
- Mourning Drongo ( D. adsimilis )
- Velvet drongo ( Dicrurus modestus )
- Aldabradrongo ( D. aldabranus )
- Brown- winged drongo ( D. fuscipennis )
- Fork drongo ( D. forficatus )
- Mayottedrongo ( D. waldeni )
- King Drongo ( D. macrocercus )
- Gray drongo ( D. leucophaeus )
- Gray-breasted drongo ( D. caerulescens )
- Crow drongo ( D. annectens )
- Bronze drongo ( D. aeneus )
- Spatula drongo ( D. remifer )
- Hair bush drongo ( D. hottentottus )
- Philippine drongo ( D. balicassius )
- Mountain drongo ( D. montanus )
- Sumatran Rongo ( D. sumatranus )
- Wallacedrongo ( D. densus )
- Ribbon-tailed drongo ( D. megarhynchus )
- Gloss spot drongo ( D. bracteatus )
- Andamanendrongo ( D. andamanensis )
- Flag rongo ( D. paradiseus )
- Rain drongo ( D. lophorinus )
- Tablasdrongo ( D. menagei )
supporting documents
- ↑ a b c David W. Winkler, Shawn M. Billerman, Irby J. Lovette: Bird Families of the World - An Invitation to the Spectacular Diversity of Birds. Lynx Edicions and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 2015, ISBN 978-84-941892-0-3 , p. 376.
