Fork-tailed Drongo
Trauerdrongo ( Dicrurus adsimilis )
The Trauerdrongo ( Dicrurus adsimilis ) belongs to the order Passeriformes and is widespread in sub-Saharan Africa. Trauerdrongos live in open forests or in the bush.
Trauerdrongos be up to 25 cm tall and have a glossy black plumage, in females, the gloss is not as pronounced. Your beak is black and her eyes were red. A characteristic feature is its tail, which bifurcates into two ends towards the tail end.
They lay two to four eggs in a cup-shaped nest is built in the upper area of trees in a bifurcation.
They feed mainly on insects, but also on the surface of swimming fish or other prey birds they steal them. Another tactic to acquire food is the pursuit of larger wandering in the African bush animals such as rhinos, elephants, giraffes, etc. The large mammal scare when walking through tall grass and the strip of trees on considerable amounts of insects, which the Trauerdrongo benefits. This gets so in a convenient manner, a wide range of food presented. Trauerdrongos are therefore often observed in the vicinity of herds or family groups of the above mammals.
Trauerdrongos have developed a tactic to deceive meerkat (Suricata suricatta) and Elsterndrosslinge and wangle them the prey. For this purpose, they often emit species-specific calls that are to warn of approaching raptors and respond to the other species such as Elsterndrosslinge or meerkats. However, the animals get used to after a certain time to false alarm signals and no longer respond accordingly. Observed Tom Flower from the University of Cambridge in the South African Kalahari Desert that Trauerdrongos then imitate the warning cry of various other birds so real that their target objects in most cases actually scare again, seek cover, and in at least 50 while percent of cases leave their prey, which was subsequently picked up by the Trauerdrongos - a behavior that is referred to as Kleptoparasitismus. At the same time the alarm device also gave an advantage over other dogs, who were in the vicinity, because these often sought shelter in shrubs and trees. Flower found out that the voice imitates the Trauerdrongos worth, because this way they get hold of around a quarter of their food - and with minimal effort.
Trauerdrongos are not anxious and very aggressive. You do not shy away from attacks on larger birds, birds of prey, such as when their nest is threatened.