The male is entirely black with a red eye- don't confuse him with a Spangled Drongo; they're about the same size (slightly smaller), also black with red eyes. However, the call is very different, and the Drongo has a y shaped fishtail.
Drongos are utterly sexually dimorphic, with the female looking almost nothing like the male. She also has a red eye, but has a dark brown/black head and gape. She also has brown upperparts and wings, with many small white spots. The tail is finely barred cream and brown, with faint barring on creamy buff belly. The chin is also the creamy buff colour, with a whisker mark of the same colour. The immature birds look like a browner version of the female.
Hope that helps, here's a not very good photo of mine of a female:
Hi Olivia, search this site, using the bird finder, and you can also google, Wikipedia is also a good resource, in the abscence of a good field guide.
Example is the link from BiBY for the Eastern Koel below.
http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/species/Eudynamys-orientalis
hope this is helpful.
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
The male is entirely black with a red eye- don't confuse him with a Spangled Drongo; they're about the same size (slightly smaller), also black with red eyes. However, the call is very different, and the Drongo has a y shaped fishtail.
Drongos are utterly sexually dimorphic, with the female looking almost nothing like the male. She also has a red eye, but has a dark brown/black head and gape. She also has brown upperparts and wings, with many small white spots. The tail is finely barred cream and brown, with faint barring on creamy buff belly. The chin is also the creamy buff colour, with a whisker mark of the same colour. The immature birds look like a browner version of the female.
Hope that helps, here's a not very good photo of mine of a female:
Thanks for the replies, I now know what to look for.