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Black Drongo

Miranda Krestovnikoff presents the black drongo of Southern Asia.

Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.

Miranda Krestovnikoff presents the black drongo of Southern Asia. What looks a like a small crow crossed with a flycatcher is riding a cow's back in an Indian village. Black drongos are slightly smaller than European starlings, but with a much longer tail. They feed mainly on large insects: dragonflies, bees, moths and grasshoppers which they will pluck from the ground as well pursuing them in aerial sallies. Although small, these birds are famous for being fearless and will attack and dive-bomb almost any other bird, even birds of prey, which enter their territories. This aggressive behaviour has earned them the name "King Crow" and in Hindi their name is Kotwal - the policeman.

Producer : Andrew Dawes

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1 minute

Last on

Fri 3 Nov 2023 05:58

Black Drongo (Dicrurus macrocercus)

Webpage image courtesy of Hanne & Jens Eriksen / naturepl.com.

© Hanne & Jens Eriksen / naturepl.com.

Recording of black drongo by Arnoud B van den Berg / Ref: ML 70669

This programme contains a wildtrack  kindly provided by The Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology; recorded by Arnoud B van den Berg on 26 Jun 1989, in Baluram Reserve, Jawa Timr, Indonesia.

Broadcasts

  • Thu 9 Oct 2014 05:58
  • Wed 23 Sep 2015 05:58
  • Wed 15 Aug 2018 05:58
  • Thu 21 Nov 2019 05:58
  • Mon 30 Aug 2021 05:58
  • Fri 3 Nov 2023 05:58

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