The fork-tailed drongo is East Africa’s feathered bandit a glossy black trickster ruling from exposed perches.

In the Serengeti and Masai Mara, they’ve perfected their con: mimicking meerkats’ alarm calls to steal food, or imitating starling warnings to frighten competitors from termite emergencies.

Watch them fearlessly mobbing martial eagles, dive-bombing lions near kills, or executing acrobatic insect catches above browsing elephants.

Square-tailed drongos inhabit wetter forests, while the fork-tailed species dominates everywhere from coastal scrub to highland edges.