Dicrurus adsimilis
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%
The fork-tailed drongo (Dicrurus adsimilis), also called the common drongo or African drongo, is a small bird found from the Sahel to South Africa that lives in wooded habitats, particularly woodlands and savannas. Like other drongos, the fork-tailed is mostly insectivorous; its diet mainly consists of butterflies, termites, and grasshoppers.
Physically, this species is characterized with a narrow fork-shaped tail, red-brownish eyes, and black plumage throughout all of its body. These birds nest close to wetlands, forests, and farms and the breeding season varies depending the region. The female usually lays one to four eggs, which hatch in 15 to 18 days.
The fork-tailed drongo is known for its ability to deceptively mimic other bird alarm calls in order for a certain animal to flee the scene so it can steal their food (kleptoparasitism). They are also known for their aggressive and fearless behavior, often attacking and driving away much larger animals, including birds of prey, when their nest is in danger. Due to its extensive range and stable population, the fork-tailed drongo is classified by the IUCN Red List as a least-concern species. Wikipedia →
Likely
About 60% of wildlife watchers report a Fork-tailed Drongo sighting in Mana Pools National Park on a given day, based on 306 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 8th most-seen of the 275 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 90%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June–July and November–December
In those months about 70% of wildlife watchers report a Fork-tailed Drongo in Mana Pools National Park on a given day, against about 40% in January, the lowest month. March has too few records to rate.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Fork-tailed Drongo sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
17th of 55
Of the 55 parks where we can rate Fork-tailed Drongo sightings, Mana Pools National Park ranks 17th at about 60%. The best odds are in Etosha National Park (Namibia, about 80%), Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (South Africa, about 80%) and Meru National Park (Kenya, about 80%). All parks ranked.
Same order: Passeriformes
The closest relatives of the Fork-tailed Drongo that you can see in Mana Pools National Park (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Meves's Glossy-starling (about 70%), Common Bulbul (about 60%) and Tropical Boubou (about 50%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Fork-tailed Drongo is recorded against all the birds logged in Mana Pools National Park (306 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.
