Dicrurus aeneus
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%
The bronzed drongo (Dicrurus aeneus) is a small Indomalayan bird belonging to the drongo group. They are resident in the forests of the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. They capture insects flying in the shade of the forest canopy by making aerial sallies from their perches. They are very similar to the other drongos of the region but are somewhat smaller and compact with differences in the fork depth and the patterns of gloss on their feathers.
This drongo is somewhat smaller than the black drongo and has more metallic gloss with a spangled appearance on the head, neck and breast. The lores are velvety and the ear coverts are duller. The tail is slender and well forked with the outer tail feathers flaring outward slightly. Immatures have their axillaries tipped in white. The young bird is duller and brownish with less spangling.
The nominate race is found in India and extending until the northern part of the Malay Peninsula. Specimens from southern India are however very similar in morphometrics to those from malayensis of Burma and the size variation may be clinal. The subspecies from China kwangsiensis is treated as synonymous with aeneus. Subspecies malayensis... Wikipedia →
Likely
About 60% of wildlife watchers report a Bronzed Drongo sighting in Royal Manas National Park on a given day, based on 830 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 4th most-seen of the 388 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.
October
In that month about 70% of wildlife watchers report a Bronzed Drongo in Royal Manas National Park on a given day, against about 40% in January and June, the lowest months. That is one of Royal Manas National Park's driest months, with about 130 mm of rain against 930 mm in July. August and September have too few records to rate.
Between 4 and 7 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Bronzed Drongo sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
Among the best
Of the 28 parks where we can rate Bronzed Drongo sightings, Royal Manas National Park ranks 2nd at about 60%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Cat Tien National Park (Vietnam, about 60%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Dicrurus
The closest relatives of the Bronzed Drongo that you can see in Royal Manas National Park (genus Dicrurus, Drongos) are Ashy Drongo (about 40%), Hair-crested Drongo (about 20%) and Greater Racket-tailed Drongo (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Bronzed Drongo is recorded against all the birds logged in Royal Manas National Park (830 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.
