These are widespread on the Capricorn Coast, their glossy black plumage, iridescent spangles, long forked tail and elegant aerobatics will catch your attention even in the centre of town. They are also found throughout northern and eastern Australia, in New Guinea and eastern Indonesia, closely related species occur through southeast Asia to India, China, and the Philippines and on some southwest Pacific islands.
Here you will find them in woodlands, dunes, parks and home gardens, usually perched on an open branch on the lookout for the insects on which they feed. Once seen the prey is pursued in an acrobatic display, caught in the drongo's slightly hooked bill and taken back to a perch where it is killed and eaten. Insects are also taken from foliage and from under bark; fruit and nectar also form part of its diet.
Sexes are similar and both build the nest which is a simple, shallow cup of twigs, vine tendrils and grasses held together with spider web placed in the horizontal fork of a tree, about 10 m to 20 m above the ground. Both parents incubate the eggs, care for the young. and actively defend the nest against intruders.
The word drongo has found it’s way into Australian slang because of a racehorse named Drongo which raced in the early 1920s, the horse was highly fancied but in 37 starts he never won a race, similar horses came to be called “drongos” and the word has come to mean a loser or no-hoper.