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You all know it, in fact you can't miss either his metalic calls nor his black silhoutte on a branch in the Park. Must be one of the most common birds in Kruger. The fork-tailed drongo. I saw one last friday for the first time in PTA. What a nice surprise. Made me feel like I was in Kruger again.

I think I'll dump this right here. Pic showing exactly why it's called a fork-tailed drongo:

This photo was not taken inside a National Park. We have noticed that these acrobatic flyer also adores water….moments after we put a sprayer on, this birds are dive bombing trough it. They also, for long periods, sit and talk to themselves …makes me think about the Cape Crows in the Kgalagadi that do the same

This juvenile Forktailed Drongo was sitting in this tree for a whole day battling to fly, which gave me this opportunity to photograph it.
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Forktailed Drongo
Dicrurus adsimilis

Differs from the Squaretailed Drongo & Southern Black Flycatcher due to it being a large all-black perching bird & having a deeply forked tail.

Size: 25 cm.
Sexes: Alike.
Juvenile: Underparts and forewing have buff-tipped feathers and has a yellow gape.
Habitat: Woodland, savanna and exotic.
Call: Grating and shrill notes. Mimics birds of prey especially the Pearlspotted Owl.

Source: Birds of Southern Africa - Ian Sinclair & Phil Hockey

Took this photo of a forktailed drongo on its nest in Nossob camp in October 1992.

I saw this one on the S50 close to the Kanniedooddam.

Near Satara the fork of this Drongo's tail is somewhat battered maybe he has mobed the Brown Sanke-Eagle a few time to often.

They are really sneaky birds....
Drongos in the Kalahari mimic the alarm calls of other species in order to steal food, scientists have found.

The birds "play tricks" on meerkats in particular, following the little mammals around until they catch a meal.

The drongos then make fake alarm calls that mimic other species and cause the meerkats to run for cover, allowing the drongos to swoop in.

Have a read in the whole article.

A Fork-tailed Drongo at Lake Panic.

Kruger



Kgalagadi