Drongos

Drongos comprise a family of passerine birds, Dicruridae, with thirty species in the Old World tropics, all belonging to the genus Dicrurus. These birds are primarily black or dark grey with short legs, forked tails—some with distinct decorations—and an upright stance when perched. They are skilled insect hunters, capturing their prey mid-flight or from the ground, and some can mimic the calls of other species. Remarkably, fork-tailed drongos in the Kalahari desert use fake alarm calls to trick other animals into abandoning their food, which the drongos then steal. The family originated in the Indo-Malayan region, spreading to Africa and across the Wallace Line into Australasia. Drongos are known for their courage, even attacking larger animals to defend their nests. "Drongo" is also Australian slang for "idiot" possibly due to an infamous racehorse by that name that consistently failed to win races.