Bronzed Drongo

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Bronzed Drongo

near Purbasthali in Burdwan District, West Bengal, India.

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Dicruridae
Genus:	Dicrurus
Species:	D. aeneus

Binomial name

Dicrurus aeneus
Vieillot, 1817

Near Purbasthali in Burdwan District, West Bengal, India.

The Bronzed Drongo , Dicrurus aeneus, is a small Asian bird. The drongos are passerines restricted to the Old World tropics. They were previously classed as the family Dicruridae, but that has been much enlarged to include a number of largely Australasian groups, such as the Australasian fantails, monarchs and paradise flycatchers.

The Bronzed Drongo is a resident breeder in tropical southern Asia from India east to southern China and Indonesia.

This species is usually found in moist broadleaved forest. Three or four eggs are laid in a cup nest in a tree. These are aggressive and fearless birds, 24 cm in length, and will attack much larger species if their nest or young are threatened.

The adult Bronzed Drongo has spangled metallic green-blue plumage, and the tail is long and shallowly forked. The young bird is duller and brownish with less spangling.

The Bronzed Drongo has short legs and sits very upright while perched prominently, like a shrike. It is insectivorous.

[edit] References

BirdLife International (2004). Dicrurus aeneus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 6 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
Birds of India by Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp, ISBN 0-691-04910-6