D. m. macrocercus (Vieillot, 1817)[2] D. m. albirictus (Hodgson, 1836)[3] D. m. minor Blyth, 1850[4] D. m. cathoecus R. Swinhoe, 1871[5] D. m. thai Kloss, 1921[6] D. m. javanus Kloss, 1921[6] D. m. harterti Baker, 1918[7] Buchanga atra Bhuchanga albirictus[8] The black drongo (Dicrurus macrocercus) is a small Asian passerine bird of the drongo family Dicruridae.

Previously grouped along with the African fork-tailed drongo (Dicrurus adsimilis), the Asian forms are now treated as a separate species with several distinct populations.

It has been introduced to some Pacific islands, where it has thrived and become abundant to the point of threatening and causing the extinction of native and endemic bird species there.

albirictus) are larger than those from the Sri Lankan population minor while those from the peninsular India (nominate subspecies) are intermediate in size.

Juveniles are brownish and may have some white barring or speckling towards the belly and vent, and can be mistaken for the white-bellied drongo.

[16] With short legs, they sit upright on thorny bushes, bare perches or electricity wires.

[13] The black drongo is found predominantly in open country and usually perches and hunts close to the ground.

They are found as summer visitors to northeastern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan but are residents from the Indus Valley until Bangladesh and into India and Sri Lanka.

Black drongos were introduced just before the Second World War from Taiwan to the island of Rota to help in the control of insects.

[20][21] Predation by and competition from black drongos have been suggested as factors in the decline of endemic bird species such as the Rota bridled white-eye[22] and the Guam flycatcher.

They feed mainly on insects such as grasshoppers, cicadas,[25] termites, wasps, bees, ants, moths, beetles and dragonflies.

[27] They associate with common mynas, cattle egrets and other birds that share a similar diet and habitat.

An individual on a migratory stop-over island in Korea caught several birds one after the other, killing them by striking at the back of the head and neck and feeding selectively on parts, especially the brain.

[44][45][46] Black drongos breed mainly in February and March in southern India, and until August in other parts of the country.

Courtship can include aerobatic chases and they may lock their wings and beaks together, with the pair sometimes falling to the ground.

The nest is a cup made with a thin layer of sticks placed in the fork of branch, and is built in a week by both the male and female.

[15] The usual clutch is three or rarely four eggs laid in a cup nest placed in the fork of an outer branch of tree.

Nestlings are brooded for the first five days, after which the young are capable of maintaining a fairly constant body temperature.

[15] Helpers, offspring from the previous brood, have sometimes been noted to assist in feeding the fledglings at the nest of their parents.

[50] An average breeding success of 44% has been noted with the main cause of fledgling mortality being shortage of insect food which in turn was dependent on rainfall.

Other local names include "srigunting hitam" in Indonesia, Thampal in Pakistan, Gohalo/Kolaho in Baluchistan, Kalkalachi in Sindhi, Kotwal (policeman) in Hindi; Finge or Finga in Bengali; Phesu in Assamese; Cheiroi in Manipuri; Kosita/Kalo koshi in Gujarati; Ghosia in Marathi; Kajalapati in Oriya; Kari kuruvi (charcoal bird), Erettai valan (two tail) in Tamil; Passala poli gadu in Telugu; Aanaranji (elephant snatcher) in Malayalam; Kari bhujanga in Kannada and Kalu Kawuda in Sinhalese.

[71] A superstition in central India is that cattle would lose their horn if a newly fledged drongo alighted on it.