Fork-tailed Drongo
Dicrurus adsimilis (Bechstein, 1794)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Fork-tailed drongo (Dicrurus adsimilis adsimilis), Kruger National Park, South Africa
Charles J. Sharp · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
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. It is part of the family Dicruridae and has four recognized subspecies, D. a adsimilis, D. a. apivorus, D. a. fugax and D. a. jubaensis. 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).
Wikipedia contributors, Fork-tailed drongo; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:10:52.009075+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Dicrurus adsimilis (Bechstein, 1794)
- Name authority
- (Bechstein, 1794)
- Common name
- Fork-tailed Drongo
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Dicruridae
- Genus
- Dicrurus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyDicruridae Vigors, 1825
- genusDicrurus Vieillot, 1816
- speciesDicrurus adsimilis (Bechstein, 1794)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Dicrurus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Ashy DrongoDicrurus leucophaeus Vieillot, 1817 | DicruridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Dicrurus lophorinus Vieillot, 1817 | DicruridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Velvet-mantled DrongoDicrurus modestus Hartlaub, 1849 | DicruridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Lesser Racket-tailed DrongoDicrurus remifer (Temminck, 1823) | DicruridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Aldabra DrongoDicrurus aldabranus (Ridgway, 1893) | DicruridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Crested DrongoDicrurus forficatus (Linnaeus, 1766) | DicruridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Sulawesi DrongoDicrurus montanus (Riley, 1919) | DicruridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Andaman DrongoDicrurus andamanensis Beavan, 1867 | DicruridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| BalicassiaoDicrurus balicassius (Linnaeus, 1766) | DicruridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Grand Comoro DrongoDicrurus fuscipennis (Milne-Edwards & Oustalet, 1887) | DicruridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ribbon-tailed DrongoDicrurus megarhynchus (Quoy & Gaimard, 1830) | DicruridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Greater Racket-tailed DrongoDicrurus paradiseus (Linnaeus, 1766) | DicruridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=559755 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:6D63M. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.