Other Names (World)
Black Drongo, King Crow, Common King Crow, Black King Crow, South Indian Black Drongo (macrocercus), North Indian Black Drongo (albirictus), Himalayan Black Drongo (albirictus), Ceylon Black Drongo (minor), Chinese Black Drongo (cathoecus)
Afghanistan (B), Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China (mainland), India, Indonesia, Iran [Islamic Republic of], Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan (China), Thailand, Vietnam.
Vagrant to North Korea, Oman, South Korea, United Arab Emirates.
Introduced to Guam (B), Kuwait (E), Northern Mariana Islands (B).
Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.
Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).
Black Drongo (Dicrurus macrocercus) [XC842308]
by Johannes Dag Mayer from Yaek Uthayan (near Bangkok), Thawi Watthana, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon, Thailand (subsong)
Black Drongo (Dicrurus macrocercus) [XC572945]
by Okamoto Keita Sin from Bhupal housing Colony, Tirupati, Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh, India (call, nocturnal flight call)
Nest
A cup composed of a thin layer of sticks placed in the fork of a branch.
Eggs (Guide)
3, sometimes 4; pale cream to red with spots; 26 x 19 mm. Incubation: 14 - 15 days; by both sexes.
Subspecies
Forms a superspecies with Fork-tailed Drongo (Dicrurus adsimilis) and often treated as conspecific, but differs slightly in plumage and significantly in proportions and voice. Close relationship between the two supported by recent DNA studies. Previously, Comoro Drongo (Dicrurus fuscipennis), Velvet-mantled Drongo (Dicrurus modestus), Mayotte Drongo (Dicrurus waldenii), Crested Drongo (Dicrurus forficatus) and Aldabra Drongo (Dicrurus aldabranus) thought to be part of same superspecies, but morphological and genetic differentiation considered too great to validate such a relationship. Subspecies albirictus intergrades with nominate in south-eastern Pakistan and across central India (in narrow band roughly from Kutch, in western Gujarat, east to southern West Bengal) and with cathoecus in north-western Myanmar; cathoecus and thai may intergrade in northern Thailand.
The following 7 subspecies are recognised:
albirictus (Hodgson, 1836) - Himalayas from eastern Afghanistan and northern and eastern Pakistan east to western and extreme northern Myanmar and southern China (south-eastern Xizang), south to south-eastern Pakistan (east from Indus Valley) and across central India (south to Gujarat, northern Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal. Non-breeding also south to southern India, central and southern Myanmar and northern Thailand.
macrocercus Vieillot, 1817 - South-eastern Pakistan and peninsular India southern from Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal.
minor Blyth, 1850 - Northern and north-western Sri Lanka (southern, in west, to Puttalam), including Mannar I.
cathoecus Swinhoe, 1871 - Breeds central, eastern and southern China (eastern from Qinghai, southern from Jilin; including Hainan I), Myanmar (except west and north), northern Thailand and northern Indochina. Non-breeding south to south-western and southern Myanmar, southern Malay Peninsula (Singapore) and southern Indochina.
thai Kloss, 1921 - Southern Myanmar (Tenasserim), central and eastern Thailand, probably eastern Cambodia, and southern Indochina.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet