Dicrurus macrocercus
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The black drongo (Dicrurus macrocercus) is a small Asian passerine bird of the drongo family Dicruridae. It is a common resident breeder in much of tropical southern Asia from southwest Iran through Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka east to southern China and Indonesia and accidental visitor of Japan. It is an all black bird with a distinctive forked tail and measures 28 cm (11 in) in length. It feeds on insects, and is common in open agricultural areas and light forest throughout its range, perching conspicuously on a bare perch or along power or telephone lines.
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. 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.
The black drongo is listed as least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on the IUCN Red List, due to its large range and relative commonness. 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. Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ranchi | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Bhubaneshwar | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Visakhapatnam | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Madurai | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Savar | 🇧🇩 Bangladesh | |
| 6 | Puducherry | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Hajipur | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Bhopal | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 9 | Asansol | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 10 | Berhampore | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 2 | Edward Youde Aviary | 🇭🇰 Hong Kong SAR China |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Black Drongo sighting in Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 111th most-seen of the 122 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Black Drongo in Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season. January–April and October–November have too few records to rate.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black Drongo sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
28th of 31
Of the 31 parks where we can rate Black Drongo sightings, Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park ranks 28th at under 5%. The best odds are in Kanha National Park (India, about 70%), Keoladeo National Park (India, about 70%) and Chitwan National Park (Nepal, about 70%). All parks ranked.
Same order: Passeriformes
The closest relatives of the Black Drongo that you can see in Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Horned Lark (about 70%), Isabelline Wheatear (about 70%) and White-winged Snowfinch (about 60%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black Drongo is recorded against all the birds logged in Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park (6 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
