Dicrurus macrocercus

Pictures

Picture	Title	Caption	Copyright
Title Adult Black Drongo Caption Adult Black Drongo on Guam Copyright ©Dan Vice/USDA APHIS	Adult Black Drongo	Adult Black Drongo on Guam	©Dan Vice/USDA APHIS
Title Juvenile/sub-adult Black Drongo Caption Juvenile/sub-adult Black Drongo on Rota, NMI Copyright ©Eric A. VanderWerf-2009	Juvenile/sub-adult Black Drongo	Juvenile/sub-adult Black Drongo on Rota, NMI	©Eric A. VanderWerf-2009

Identity

Preferred Scientific Name

• Dicrurus macrocercus Vieillot, Louis Jean Pierre (1817)

International Common Names

• English: black drongo; black king crow; king crow
• Spanish: drongo real
• French: drongo royal
• Chinese: hei juanwei

Local Common Names

• Bangladesh: finga
• India: aanaranchi; bhujanga; erettai valan; kari kuruvi; kotwal
• India/Andhra Pradesh: passala poli gadu
• India/Assam: phenchu
• India/Goa: ghosia
• India/Gujarat: kalo koshi; kosita
• India/Karnataka: kari bhujanga
• India/Kerala: kaaka tampuratti
• India/Manipur: cheiroi
• India/Odisha: kajalapati
• Indonesia: srigunting hitam
• Malaysia: cecawi Hitam
• Pakistan: gohalo; kalkalachi; kolaho; thampal
• Sri Lanka: erettai valan; kari kuruvi; kauda

Summary of Invasiveness

Dicrurus macrocercus, commonly known as the black drongo, is a medium sized passerine bird native to much of southern Asia and parts of Indonesia. The species was introduced to Rota, Northern Mariana Islands, from Taiwan by the Japanese in the mid-1930s as a form of biological crop pest control. From Rota the species apparently self-colonized the nearby island of Guam. The black drongo has been implicated as a predator and held at least partially responsible for the decline of one of the IUCN’s Critically Endangered red-listed avian species on Rota, and has been observed as a source of frequent harassment to another. However, these assertions are supported by anecdotal evidence and no data indicate that drongos have a significant negative effect, or have played a significant role, in the decline of any bird species on Guam or Rota.

Taxonomic Tree

• Domain: Eukaryota
•     Kingdom: Metazoa
•         Phylum: Chordata
•             Subphylum: Vertebrata
•                 Class: Aves
•                     Order: Passeriformes
•                         Family: Dicruridae
•                             Genus: Dicrurus
•                                 Species: Dicrurus macrocercus

Notes on Taxonomy and Nomenclature

Seven subspecies of Dicrurus macrocercus are recognized: D. macrocercus albirictus, D. macrocercus macrocercus, D. macrocercus minor, D. macrocercus cathoecus, D. macrocercus thai, D. macrocercus harterti, and D. macrocercus javanus.

Description

The black drongo is a medium sized passerine bird that is 27-28.5cm in length. Its plumage is black with a slight blue iridescent gloss, and its tail is relatively long and deeply forked. The species usually exhibits a white rictal spot, located below and in front of the eye, at the base of the bill. Juveniles tend to be duller than the adults with a sooty-brown tinge to their plumage and no gloss. They also exhibit vague pale scales on the breast and belly, and often show white fringing on the secondary or inner flight feathers. The tail of juvenile birds is shorter than those of adults and is only slightly forked.

Distribution

The native range of the black drongo includes Afghanistan, India and Sri Lanka, to Southeast Asia, southern and eastern China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Java and Bali.

Distribution Table

The distribution in this summary table is based on all the information available. When several references are cited, they may give conflicting information on the status. Further details may be available for individual references in the Distribution Table Details section which can be selected by going to Generate Report.

History of Introduction and Spread

The black drongo was introduced to Rota, Northern Mariana Islands, from Taiwan by the Japanese in 1935 as a form of biological crop pest control (Baker 1951). The species is thought to have self-colonized Guam, which is separated from Rota by only 48 km (Jenkins, 1983). It is now the most abundant avian species on Guam and remains well established on Rota. 

Introductions

Habitat

The black drongo prefers open country including cultivation, roadsides, scrub, open areas around villages, and suburbs of towns and cities. The species also occurs in open broken forest and lightly wooded savannah and is often associated with cattle grazing. In Rota, the species was significantly more common in open habitats; about five times more common when compared to its abundance in closed habitats (Amar et al., 2008). It breeds mostly in lowlands but does occur up to 2000 m in warmer summer months. Black drongos build neat cup nests of grass and natural fibres, which they place in trees. The species tends to nest in close proximity to agricultural lands and electrical power lines in southern India (Ali et al., 2010).

Habitat List

Hosts/Species Affected

The black drongo has a positive effect upon agriculture by feeding upon insect species that are considered serious crop pests (Chandy, 2003; Asokan, 2009).

Biology and Ecology

Genetics

D. macrocercus forms a superspecies with (or, is a sister species of) Dicrurus adsimilis, the Fork-tailed Drongo, of sub-Saharan Africa (Pasquet et al., 2007). Five other species (D. fuscipennis, D. modestus, D. waldenii, D. forficatus and D. aldabranus) were once thought to be part of the same superspecies. Recent morphological and genetic data, however, indicated that the differentiation was considered too great to validate such a relationship (Pasquet et al., 2007).

Reproductive Biology

Breeding is reported to occur from February-August for the black drongo in India and central Asia and from April-August in Southeast Asia (Grimmett et al., 1999; Robson, 2000; Ali et al., 2010). The species constructs a medium sized, thin bottomed, cup-shaped nest that is placed in the forks of tree branches. Ali et al. (2010) reported nests placed between heights of 5.5 m and 12.5 m above the ground in southern India. Nests are typically constructed of dried fibres, grass, and twigs. Clutch sizes range from 2-5 eggs (Robson, 2000; Ali et al., 2010). Eggs can be white to pinkish-cream in colour and spotted or blotched with black or brown. Incubation, in which both parents participate, generally occurs with the laying of the first egg; the remainder of the eggs are laid at approximately 24 hour intervals thereafter. Eggs hatch between day 13 and 16 after being laid and young fledge between day 20 and 22 after hatching.
  
Activity Patterns

Black drongos are incomplete migrants, in that birds from the northern range of the species’ population overlap those in the southern portion of its range in winter. Northern and upper elevation populations migrate in autumn, wintering at lower elevations and latitudes as far south as central India in the west and Malaysia and Sumatra in the east. On their wintering grounds black drongos occur in tropical savannah, grassland, and agricultural areas (Decandido et al., 2004). Observations in southern Thailand indicate that migration begins in late September, peaks by late October, and mostly ends by early November (Decandido et al., 2004). Migrants tend to be most active daily between 08.00 h and 10.00 h and again between 17.00 h and 18.00 h (Decandido et al., 2004).
 
Nutrition

The black drongo is primarily insectivorous and typically forages from exposed perches in open areas, from where it frequently makes sallies at prey in mid-air or on the ground. It often hunts insects at dusk and where insects are attracted at night to artificial lights (Sharma, 1991; P. Radley, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Division of Fish and Wildlife, Saipan, personal observation, 2007-2011). Insects most often consumed in agricultural areas in India include beetles, wasps, moths and butterflies, locusts and grasshoppers (Asokan et al., 2009). Black drongos have been recorded taking and eating small birds on Guam including Rufous Fantails (Rhipidura rufifrons), Mariana Swiftlets (Aerodramus bartschi), Eurasian Tree Sparrows (Passer montanus), and Rota White-eyes (Zosterops rotensis) on Rota (Engbring et al., 1986; US Fish and Wildlife Service, 2007). The species has also been observed taking small fish and aquatic insects at the surface of small ponds (Serrao, 1971; P. Radley, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Division of Fish and Wildlife, Saipan, personal observation, 2007-2011).
 
Associations

Veena and Lokesha (1993) suggested the existence of a commensal association between black drongos and two myna species in India, the Common Myna (Acridotherus tristis) and Jungle Myna (Acridotherus fuscus). Both mynas forage in pure and mixed flocks in southern India. Drongos were found to benefit individually by associating with large foraging flocks of these species, which tend to flush flying insects while foraging for ground dwelling arthropods and grains (Veena and Lokesha, 1993).

Environmental Requirements

The range of the black drongo is tropical to subtropical, extending mostly north of the equator between 45 degrees north latitude and 8 degrees south latitude. The species prefers more open countryside than other drongo species, including areas of cultivation, grasslands and savannas, open scrub and broken forest, and urban and residential areas, up to 1500-2000 m in elevation in the summer. It breeds mostly in lowland areas.

Natural Food Sources

Climate

Notes on Natural Enemies

There are no published data pertaining to predators or natural enemies of the black drongo within its native range. However, given their similar choice of habitat and the drongo’s foraging activities at or shortly after dark, Barn Owls (Tyto alba) could opportunistically prey upon them (Sharma, 1991; P. Radley, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Division of Fish and Wildlife, Saipan, personal observation, 2007-2011). Brown tree snakes have been documented killing black drongos on Guam but the effect of the snake upon drongo populations on the island is unknown (Savidge, 1988). De Mello (1935) identified and described a species of Haemoproteus blood parasite for the black drongo (H. dicruri) in India but its clinical or physiological effects upon the species are unknown. However, the genus of the parasite is known to be host specific (Savage and Greiner, 2005).

Means of Movement and Dispersal

Accidental Introduction

D. macrocercus is believed to have self-colonized the island of Guam after its intentional introduction to Rota, Northern Mariana Islands, in 1935; Guam and Rota are separated by only 48 km (Jenkins, 1983).

Intentional Introduction

The black drongo was introduced to Rota, Northern Mariana Islands, from Taiwan by the Japanese in 1935 as a form of biological crop pest control (Baker 1951). The species is sold in the pet trade in parts of China and Southeast Asia but no information exists pertaining to its availability in markets outside of its native range (Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden 2004; Shepherd et al., 2004; BirdLife International 2012).

Impact Summary

Economic Impact

The black drongo appears to have little to no negative economic impact upon agriculture, aquaculture, forestry or horticulture. Evidence from India indicates that the species actually has a positive impact upon agriculture by consuming large quantities of insects considered to be serious crop pests (Chandy, 2003; Asokan, 2009). The black drongo occurs in the pet trade in parts of Asia but sources suggest that the species is not significant to the industry (Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden 2004; Shepherd et al., 2004; BirdLife International 2012).

Environmental Impact

Impact on Habitat

No adverse impacts to habitat are documented in the literature.

Impact on Biodiversity

The black drongo has been reported as a predator and is implicated in the decline of Critically Endangered Rota White-eye (Zosterops rotensis) in the Mariana Islands, (Craig and Taisacan, 1994; IUCN, 2012). Although the very small Rota White-eye often forages in exposed microhabitat where drongos occur, only one observation has been reported of a drongo eating a white-eye on Rota (Amidon 2000). Not all researchers agree that the drongo played an important role in the decline of the Rota White-eye or that it has had an effect upon other populations of small birds on either Rota or Guam (Maben, 1982; Fancy and Snetsinger, 2001; Amar et al., 2008). Researchers with the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands’ Division of Fish and Wildlife and others have observed black drongos harassing Mariana Crows (IUCN [2012] red-listed as Critically Endangered) on Rota and Guam (S. Faegre, personal observation, 2010-2012; Maben, 1982; US Fish and Wildlife Service, 2005). However, no data indicate that drongos have a negative effect upon, or have played a significant role in, the decline of the Mariana Crow on either island. Maben (1982) concluded that the black drongo served as little direct competition for any native species of birds on Guam because of the drongos choice of foraging habitat.

Threatened Species

Social Impact

No impact (negative or positive) upon human activities, including health, livelihoods, aesthetics, tourism, etc., are documented in the literature.

Risk and Impact Factors

• Proved invasive outside its native range
• Has a broad native range
• Abundant in its native range
• Tolerates, or benefits from, cultivation, browsing pressure, mutilation, fire etc
• Highly mobile locally
• Benefits from human association (i.e. it is a human commensal)

• Conflict
• Threat to/ loss of endangered species
• Threat to/ loss of native species

• Competition - monopolizing resources
• Herbivory/grazing/browsing
• Predation

Uses

Economic Value

The Japanese originally introduced the black drongo to Rota in 1935 to serve as a form of biological crop pest control to help increase the productivity of the sugar cane industry on the island. Black drongos consume a large number of insect species in India that are considered serious pests of various important agricultural crops, including rice (Chandy, 2003; Asokan, 2009).

Social Benefit

Black drongos are sold in the pet trade and are used as a food source by humans on a subsistence basis when necessary (Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden 2004; Shepherd et al., 2004; BirdLife International 2012).

Similarities to Other Species/Conditions

The black drongo is discerned from the ashy drongo (Dicrurus leucophaeus) by its shiny blue-black throat and breast, which merge into black on the remainder of the underparts. It is separated from the white-bellied drongo (Dicrurus caerulescens) by its black belly, flanks, and undertail-coverts. The black drongo could be confused with the crow-billed drongo (Dicrurus annectans), except that the latter has a shorter and less deeply forked tail and a heavier bill than the former. Additionally, crow-billed drongos occur in dense forest whereas black drongos reside in more open country. The black drongo could also be confused with an adult drongo cuckoo (Surniculus lugubris), the habitat for which can overlap that of the black drongo. However, the cuckoo has a fine, down-curved black bill, a slightly indented square ended tail, and a clean black belly and vent with white-barring on the under-tail coverts and on the underside of the shorter, outer-tail feathers.

Prevention and Control

Due to the variable regulations around (de)registration of pesticides, your national list of registered pesticides or relevant authority should be consulted to determine which products are legally allowed for use in your country when considering chemical control. Pesticides should always be used in a lawful manner, consistent with the product's label.

Physical/Mechanical Control

In an effort to evaluate control measures necessary to reduce black drongo numbers on Rota, Craig (1999) reported shooting over 1000 drongos over eight mornings in 1991. He estimated that continued control efforts over at least 40 mornings would reduce the drongo population on the island by 80-90%. Both Lusk (1993) and Worthington and Taisacan (1994), however, found it difficult to control drongos on Rota using firearms. In the early 1990s the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands’ Division of Fish and Wildlife conducted a study to determine if the removal of black drongos on Rota would increase the abundance of white-eyes on the island (Lusk, 1993; Worthington and Taisacan, 1994). With repeated exposure to firearms drongos became wary of humans and fled when approached, well before being within shotgun range. No other efforts to control black drongos on Rota have been attempted.

Gaps in Knowledge/Research Needs

US Fish and Wildlife Service (2005; 2007) states the need for research pertaining to the following on Rota: assessing the impact of black drongos upon both Mariana crows and Rota white-eyes; evaluation and development of black drongo control techniques; evaluation of the expected costs, benefits, and results of black drongo control; and testing the effectiveness of habitat restoration that benefits the crow and white-eye but not the black drongo. The US Fish and Wildlife Service (2005; 2007) suggests that such research is needed to determine if drongo control on Rota is warranted and if it should be a priority, based upon other conservation needs of both the Mariana crow and the Rota white-eye.

References

Ali AMS, Asokan S, Manikannan R, Nithiyanandam GT, 2010. Nest-site characteristics and breeding biology of the Black Drongo Dicrurus macrocercus in Cauvery Delta, Southern India. World Applied Sciences Journal, 9(11):1280-1285.

Amar A, Amidon F, Arroyo B, Esselstyn JA, Marshall AP, 2008. Population trends of the forest bird community on the Pacific island of Rota, Mariana Islands. Condor, 110(3):421-427. http://www.bioone.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1525%2Fcond.2008.8560

Amidon FA, 2000. M.Sc. Thesis. Blacksburg, Virginia, USA: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Asokan S, Ali AMS, Manikannan R, 2009. Diet of three insectivorous birds in Nagapattinam District, Tamil Nadu, India - a preliminary study. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 1(6):327-330. http://www.threatenedtaxa.org/ZooPrintJournal/2009/June/o214526vi09327-330.pdf

Baker RH, 1951. The avifauna of Micronesia, its origin, evolution, and distribution. Lawrence, Kansas, USA: University of Kansas Museum of Natural History, 359.

BirdLife International, 2012. Species factsheet: Dicrurus macrocercus. Cambridge, UK: BirdLife International. http://www.birdlife.org/

Brazil M, 2009. Birds of East Asia. Princeton, New Jersey, USA: Princeton University Press, 528.

Chandy M, 2003. Ph.D Thesis. Kottayam, India: Mahatma Gandhi University.

Craig RJ, 1999. Conservation of endangered white-eyes (Zosteropidae) in the tropical pacific. Putnam, Connecticut, USA: Bird Conservation Research Inc, 8.

Craig RJ, Taisacan E, 1994. Notes on the ecology and population decline of the Rota Bridled White-eye. Wilson Bulletin, 106(1):165-169.

Decandido R, Nualsri C, Allen D, 2004. Migration of Black Drongo Dicrurus macrocercus in southern Thailand in autumn 2003. Forktail, 20:143-144.

Engbring J, Ramsey FL, Wildman VJ, 1986. Micronesian forest birds survey, 1982: Saipan, Tinian, Aguiguan, and Rota. Honolulu, Hawaii, USA: US Fish and Wildlife Service, 143.

Fancy SG, Snetsinger TJ, 2001. What caused the population decline of the Bridled White-eye on Rota, Mariana Islands. Studies in Avian Biology, 22:274-280.

Foundation For Ecological Security, 2012. Dicrurus macrocercus - Vieillot, 1817 (Black Drongo ) in Deomurari. AVIS-IBIS (Avian Information System - Indian BioDiversity Information System) v. 1.0. Gujarat, India: Foundation For Ecological Security. http://avis.indianbiodiversity.org/

Grimmett R, Inskipp C, Inskipp T, 1999. A guide to the birds of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. Princeton, New Jersey, USA: Princeton University Press, 888.

IUCN, 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. www.iucnredlist.org/

Jenkins JM, 1983. The native forest birds of Guam. Ornithological Monographs, 31:1-61.

KFBG, 2004. Wild animal trade monitoring at selected markets in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, South China, 2000-2003, 2., Hong Kong: Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden, 36.

Lusk MR, 1993. Black Drongo research. Five-year progress report, fiscal year 1988-1992. Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands: Division of Fish and Wildlife, Department of Lands and Natural Resources, 371-373.

Maben AF, 1982. The feeding ecology of the Black Drongo (Dicrurus macrocercus) on Guam. Long Beach, California, USA: California State University.

MacKinnon J, Phillipps K, 2006. A field guide to the birds of China. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 586.

MacKinnon J, Phillipps K, 2008. A field guide to the birds of Borneo, Sumatra, Java, and Bali. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 491.

Mello IFDe, 1935. New haemoproteids of some Indian birds. Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Science (B), 2:469-475.

Myers S, 2009. Birds of Borneo. Princeton, New Jersey, USA: Princeton University Press, 272.

Nijman V, 2004. Seasonal variation in naturally occurring mobbing behavior of drongos (Dicruridae) towards two avian predators. Ethology Ecology and Evolution, 16:25-32.

Pasquet E, Pons J-M, Fuchs J, Cruaud C, Bretagnolle V, 2007. Evolutionary history and biogeography of the drongos (Dricuridae), a tropical Old World clade of corvoid passerines. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 45:158-167.

Robson C, 2000. A guide to the birds of Southeast Asia: Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. Princeton, USA: Princeton University Press.

Savage AF, Greiner EC, 2005. Haemaproteids of the avian family Dricruridae (the drongos). Journal of Parasitology, 91(1):131-134.

Savidge JA, 1988. Food habits of Boiga irregularis, an introduced predator on Guam. Journal of Herpetology, 22(3):275-282.

Serrao JS, 1971. Black Drongo Dicrurus adsimilis fishing. Newsletter for Birdwatchers, 11(7). 10.

Sharma SK, 1991. Nocturnal feeding by Black Drongo. Newsletter for Birdwatchers, 31(3, 4). 8.

Shepherd CR, Sukumaran J, Wich SA, 2004. Open season: an analysis of the pet trade in Medan, Sumatra 1997-2001. Selangor, Malaysia: TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, 59.

Sibley CG, Monroe BL, 1990. Distribution and taxonomy of birds of the world. New Haven, Connecticut, USA: Yale University Press, 1111 pp.

US Fish and Wildlife Service, 1994. In: Recovery Plan for Serianthes nelsonii. US Fish and Wildlife Service, 60 pp.

US Fish and Wildlife Service, 2005. Draft revised recovery plan for the Aga or Mariana Crow (Corvus kubaryi). Portland, Oregon, USA: US Fish and Wildlife Service, 147 pp.

US Fish and Wildlife Service, 2007. In: Recovery Plan for the Nosa Luta or Rota Bridled White-eye (Zosterops rotensis). US Fish and Wildlife Service, 136 pp.

Veena T, Lokesha R, 1993. Associations of drongos with myna flocks: are drongos benefitted? Journal of Bioscience, 18(1):111-119.

Worthington DJ, Taisacan EM, 1994. Rota Bridled White-eye/Black Drongo research. Annual report, fiscal year 1994. Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands: Division of Fish and Wildlife, Department of Lands and Natural Resources, 17-20.

Links to Websites

Organizations

World: BirdLife International, Wellbrook Court, Girton Road, Cambridge, CB3 0NA, UK, http://www.birdlife.org

Contributors

11/09/2012 Original text by:

Paul M. Radley, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Division of Fish and Wildlife, Saipan, MP 96950

Distribution Maps