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255) Black Drongo
Black Drongo, Dicrurus macrocercus, Cecawi Hitam
This is a common resident breeder in much of tropical southern Asia from southwest Iran through India and Sri Lanka east to southern China and SouthEast Asia. It is a wholly black bird with a distinctive forked tail. The species is known for its aggressive behaviour towards much larger birds, such as crows, never hesitating to dive-bomb any bird of prey that invades its territory. This behaviour earns it the informal name of king crow. Smaller birds often nest in the well-guarded vicinity of a nesting black drongo. The black drongo is found predominantly in open country and usually perches and hunts close to the ground. They are mostly aerial predators of insects but also glean from the ground or off vegetation. They feed mainly on insects such as grasshoppers, cicadas, termites, wasps, bees, ants, moths, beetles and dragonflies. They sometimes fly close to tree branches, attempting to disturb any insects that may be present. They congregate in fields that are being ploughed, picking up exposed caterpillars and beetle grubs.
Cecawi Hitam adalah cecawi yang agresif melindungi kawasannya terutama apabila bersarang. Ia akan menyerang burung pemangsa yang lebih besar jika ada ancaman kepada sarangnya. Burung ini lazimnya ditemui di kawasan terbuka dimana ia memburu di atas tanah dan juga di kawasan bersemak.
Exif: f8, 1/800, ISO 640, focal length 800mm, Cik Canon EOS 50D, lens Canon 400mm, TC 2.0, handheld
A fool, a simpleton, an idiot. There is also a bird called a drongo. The spangled drongo is found in northern and eastern Australia, as well as in the islands to the north of Australia, and further north to India and China. It is called a drongo because that is the name of a bird from the same family in northern Madagascar. The spangled drongo is not a stupid bird. It is not a galah. One book describes it thus: 'The spangled drongo catches insects in the air, chasing them in aerobatic flight'. There is one odd story about the drongo, however: unlike most migratory birds, it appears to migrate to colder regions in winter. Some have suggested that this is the origin of the association of 'stupidity' with the term drongo. But this seems most unlikely.
So what is the true story? There was an Australian racehorse called Drongo during the early 1920s. It seems likely that he was named after the bird called the 'drongo'. He wasn't a an absolute no-hoper of a racehorse: he ran second in a VRC Derby and St Leger, third in the AJC St Leger, and fifth in the 1924 Sydney Cup. He often came very close to winning major races, but in 37 starts he never won a race. In 1924 a writer in the Melbourne Argus comments: 'Drongo is sure to be a very hard horse to beat. He is improving with every run'. But he never did win.
Soon after the horse's retirement it seems that racegoers started to apply the term to horses that were having similarly unlucky careers. Soon after the term became more negative, and was applied also to people who were not so much 'unlucky' as 'hopeless cases', 'no-hopers', and thereafter 'fools'. In the 1940s it was applied to recruits in the Royal Australian Air Force. It has become part of general Australian slang.
Buzz Kennedy, writing in The Australian newspaper in 1977, defines a drongo thus:
A drongo is a simpleton but a complicated one: he is a simpleton [of the] sort who not only falls over his feet but does so at Government House; who asks his future mother-in-law to pass-the-magic-word salt the first time the girl asks him home.... In an emergency he runs heroically in the wrong direction. If he were Superman he would get locked in the telephone box. He never wins. So he is a drongo.
The origin of the term was revived at Flemington in 1977 when a Drongo Handicap was held. Only apprentice jockeys were allowed to ride. The horses entered were not allowed to have won a race in the previous twelve months.
1941 Somers Sun 2 July: When you are called Drongo, ignore it.
2013 A. Goode Through the Farm Gate: I can't believe my drongo of a father is asking such ridiculous questions.
From - with thanks.
Litchfield National Park, covering approximately 1500 km2, is near the township of Batchelor, 100 km south-west of Darwin, in the Northern Territory of Australia. Each year the park attracts over 260,000 visitors.
Proclaimed a national park in 1986, it is named after Frederick Henry Litchfield, a Territory pioneer, who explored areas of the Northern Territory from Escape Cliffs in Van Diemen Gulf to the Daly River in 1864.
Flora
The Central sandstone plateau supports rich woodland flora communities dominated by species including Darwin woolybutt and Darwin stringybark, as well as banksias, grevilleas, terminalias and a wide variety of other woodland species.
Remnant pockets of monsoon rainforest thrive along the bottom of the escarpment, and in the deep narrow gorges created over thousands of years by the force of the waterfalls cutting into the escarpment walls.
They are significant because of their size and lack of disturbance. Here visitors will find lilies and slender ground orchids growing among Pandanus, paperbark and swamp bloodwoods.
Fauna
Common wildlife species include the antilopine kangaroo, agile wallaby, sugar glider, northern brushtail possum, fawn antechinus, black and little red flying foxes and the dingo. The caves near Tolmer Falls are home to a colony of the rare orange leaf-nosed bat and the ghost bat.
Litchfield is a habitat for hundreds of native bird species. Black kites, and other birds of prey are common during the dry season. The yellow oriole, figbird, Pacific koel, spangled drongo, dollarbird and the rainbow bee-eater inhabit the sheltered areas close to waterfalls. A species of marsupial mouse (the northern dibbler), the rufous-tailed bush-hen, a frog (the pealing chirper) and the primitive archerfish, occur in the Wangi Falls area.
Wangi, Tolmer and Florence falls and Buley Rockhole, are popular with visitors and tour groups. The falls have large pools that attract birds and reptiles such as monitors. orange-footed scrubfowl, honeyeaters, figbirds and Torres Strait pigeons share the fruit and berries in the areas with nocturnal mammals like the northern quoll, northern brown bandicoot and northern brushtail possum. Frill-necked lizard are common throughout the park, but will not be seen as frequently during the cool dry season months. The Finniss River area also hosts a number of large saltwater crocodiles, commonly abbreviated as "salties".
The magnetic termite mounds are a popular tourist attraction. These wedge-shaped mounds are aligned in a north-south direction as a response to the environment. The termites which build them feed on grass roots and other plant debris found in plains which are seasonally flooded. Therefore, the termites are forced to remain above the water, in the mound. The alignment of the mound acts as a temperature regulator, and allows the temperature to remain stable.
(Dicrurus leucophaeus) B28I5964.jpg Doi Lang Thailand North
There are several forms of Drongos, this one is the salangensis form. The color of the plumage goes from very light gray, almost white to a dark gray, bluish. There are crosses between the different forms, especially on the border between Thailand and Burma. This gives individuals variegated with dark spots of the most beautiful effect.
Dicrurus bracteatus bracteatus - Southern Spangled Drongo
Gaagal Wanggaan National Park
Scotts Head
Nambucca Shire
Mid North Coast
New South Wales
Australia
Back to Queensland today - this was another new species for me although they are quite common over east. The characteristic forked tail is not that obvious in this image but you can see the sparkly bits that give it the spangled part of its name. See in Daintree Village.
No. 134 in my Birds of Australia set.
Nature in Focus ~ 500px ~ G+ ~ Redbubble ~ Instagram
A number of Drongo's were playfully fighting with each other, chasing, clawing and then flying close so that the beaks are next to each other. They looked like they were having fun, but the face of the bird always looks a bit angry!
Thanks in advance for your feedback and views - much appreciated!
The hair-crested drongo is an Asian bird of the family Dicruridae. This species was formerly considered conspecific with Dicrurus bracteatus, for which the name "spangled drongo" – formerly used for both – is now usually reserved. Some authorities include the Sumatran drongo in D. hottentottus as subspecies.
A winding wooden boardwalk with rustic rope railings curves over a calm pond, leading the eye toward a grassy hill and distant trees. A small black Drongo, perches perfectly on the railing in the foreground, creating a tranquil scene. The image captures the serene, lush ambiance of a secluded park or garden trail.
Shot at BRB
Equipment:
20D with 400 2.8 L IS +1.4 x converter hand held
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Dicrurus macrocercus
Hindi : Kolsa / Buchanga / Bhujanga / Kotwal/ Kalkalachi / Karanjua
Bengali : Finga
Tamil : Kari karuman / Karichan / Karuvattu vali
Telugu : Pasala poli gadu
Malayalam : Kakka thampuratti / Aanaranchi
Marathi : Chosia / Kotwal
Gujarati : Kosita / Kalo koshi
Sindi : Kunik / Kalkalachi
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Many thanks for your visits, faves and comments. Cheers.
Spangled Drongo
Scientific Name: Dicrurus bracteatus
Description: The Spangled Drongo has glossy black plumage, with iridescent blue-green spots (spangles), a long forked tail and blood red eyes. Sexes are similar, but the female is slightly smaller. Occasional white spotting can be seen on the upper wings of both sexes. Young birds are more sooty black without the spangles and the eye is brown. The Spangled Drongo is noisy and conspicuous, usually active, and frequently aggressive to other species.
Similar species: Several other species are glossy black with red eyes. The Metallic Starling, Aplonis metallica, (21 cm - 24 cm) is found on the north-east coast, and has black plumage, brightly glossed with green and purple, a bright red eye and long tapered tail. The Trumpet Manucode, Manucodia keraundrenii, (28 cm - 32 cm) is restricted to northern Cape York Peninsula; it has slender plumes on the nape and throat. The adult male Common Koel, Eudynamys scolopacea, (40 cm - 46 cm) is larger and lacks the spangles and fish tail.
Distribution: Spangled Drongos are found throughout northern and eastern Australia. Also found in New Guinea and eastern Indonesia. Closely related species occur through south-east Asia to India, China, and the Philippines and on some south-west Pacific islands.
Habitat: Spangled Drongos prefer wet forests, but can also be found in other woodlands, mangroves and parks. They tend to avoid more dense forest types and rainforest interiors. Birds are more common in the north, and are often seen either singly or in pairs.
Seasonal movements: migratory; Individuals from the northern areas of Western Australia and the Northern Territory migrate northwards to Indonesia, while the eastern Australian birds migrate to New Guinea. Some Drongos in the south-east and central-east, however, remain in the same area or head south, occasionally turning up in Tasmania.
Feeding: The Spangled Drongo is usually seen perched on an open branch or telegraph wire, where it awaits a passing insect. Once seen, its prey is pursued in an acrobatic display, and is caught in the drongo's slightly hooked bill. The Spangled Drongo then returns to its perch to eat its victim. The prey is guided into the bill with the assistance of sensitive, long, wire-like bristles bordering the bill (rictal bristles). Insects are also taken from foliage and from under bark; fruit and nectar also form part of its diet.
Breeding: Spangled Drongos normally have only one clutch per season. Both adults participate in building the nest, which is a simple, shallow cup of twigs, vine tendrils and grasses, held together with spider web. It is placed in a horizontal fork of tree, normally toward outer edges and up to 10m - 20m above the ground. Both sexes incubate the eggs and care for the young. Spangled Drongos actively defend the nest against intruders.
Calls: A variety of sounds, including some distinctive metallic notes like a stretched wire being plucked, and occasional mimicry of other bird species.
Minimum Size: 28cm
Maximum Size: 32cm
Average size: 30cm
Average weight: 79g
Breeding season: September to March
Clutch Size: 3 to 5
(Source: www.birdsinbackyards.net)
© Chris Burns 2017
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This is a very common bird but I was not getting satisfactory details after several tries. Some how i did managed to find some details in my last try.
The drongos are a family, Dicruridae, of passerine birds of the Old World tropics. The 25 species in the family are placed in a single genus Dicrurus. The drongo fantail (Chaetorhynchus papuensis), formerly named the pygmy drongo, is not closely related and is now placed in the family Rhipiduridae.
Drongos are mostly black or dark grey, short-legged birds, with an upright stance when perched. They have forked tails and some have elaborate tail decorations. They feed on insects which they catch in flight or on the ground. Some species are accomplished mimics and have a variety of alarm calls, to which other birds and animals often respond. It has been suggested they may utter hoax alarm calls in order to benefit from the false alarms, a matter of interest to researchers.