Fork-tailed Drongo
Wild South Africa
Kruger National Park
This drab colored bird is a common resident in the Kruger National Park but you should not be misled by its appearance. The drongo is a highly intelligent bird and has the ability to mimic calls of other animals and it uses this skill to distract them. For example the Dwarf Mongoose has a number of different alarm calls for different predators. The drongo has learnt to imitate these calls. It will sit in trees above the foraging mongoose watching closely and waiting for one of them to catch something. At this point the drongo screeches the mimicked mongoose alarm call, sending the whole colony scattering for cover – leaving behind the food that they have just caught. The drongo then swoops in, picks up the abandoned food and heads back into the trees to enjoy the mongooses’ hard earned meal.
Fork-tailed Drongo
Wild South Africa
Kruger National Park
This drab colored bird is a common resident in the Kruger National Park but you should not be misled by its appearance. The drongo is a highly intelligent bird and has the ability to mimic calls of other animals and it uses this skill to distract them. For example the Dwarf Mongoose has a number of different alarm calls for different predators. The drongo has learnt to imitate these calls. It will sit in trees above the foraging mongoose watching closely and waiting for one of them to catch something. At this point the drongo screeches the mimicked mongoose alarm call, sending the whole colony scattering for cover – leaving behind the food that they have just caught. The drongo then swoops in, picks up the abandoned food and heads back into the trees to enjoy the mongooses’ hard earned meal.