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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Black Drongo (Dicrurus macrocercus)
Webpage image courtesy of Hanne & Jens Eriksen / naturepl.com.
NPL Ref 01212819 © Hanne & Jens Eriksen / naturepl.com.
Recording of black drongo by Arnoud B van den Berg / Ref: ML 70669
This programme contains a wildtrack recording of the black drongo 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 201405:58BBC Radio 4
- Wed 23 Sep 201505:58BBC Radio 4
- Wed 15 Aug 201805:58BBC Radio 4
- Thu 21 Nov 201905:58BBC Radio 4 FM
- Mon 30 Aug 202105:58BBC Radio 4
- Fri 3 Nov 202305:58BBC Radio 4
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