Magpie-robin

The magpie-robins or shamas (from shama, Bengali and Hindi for C. malabaricus)[2] are medium-sized insectivorous birds (some also eat berries and other fruit) in the genus Copsychus. They were formerly in the thrush family Turdidae, but are now treated as part of the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. They are garden- and forest-dwelling species found in Africa and Asia.

Magpie-robins
Male white-rumped shama (Copsychus malabaricus)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Muscicapidae
Genus: Copsychus
Wagler, 1827
Type species
Gracula saularis[1]
Linnaeus, 1758
Species

see text

The genus Copsychus was introduced by the German naturalist Johann Georg Wagler in 1827.[3] The type species was subsequently designated as the Oriental magpie-robin (Copsychus saularis) by the English zoologist George Robert Gray in 1840.[4][5] The name Copsychus is from the Ancient Greek kopsukhos or kopsikhos, meaning "blackbird".[6]

The genus contains 13 species:[7]

ImageScientific nameCommon nameDistribution
Copsychus fulicatusIndian robinBangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka
Copsychus saularisOriental magpie-robinBangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, eastern Pakistan, eastern Indonesia, Thailand, southern China, Malaysia and Singapore
Copsychus pyrropygusRufous-tailed shamasouthern Thailand, Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo
Copsychus albospecularisMadagascar magpie-robinMadagascar
Copsychus sechellarumSeychelles magpie-robinthe Seychelles
Copsychus mindanensisPhilippine magpie-robinthe Philippines
Copsychus malabaricusWhite-rumped shamaSri Lanka, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Java, Borneo
Copsychus albiventrisAndaman shamathe Andaman Islands
Copsychus stricklandiiWhite-crowned shamaBorneo
Copsychus luzoniensisWhite-browed shamathe Philippines
Copsychus superciliarisVisayan shamaVisayan Islands in the Philippines
Copsychus nigerWhite-vented shamaPalawan, Balabac and Calamian in the Philippines
Copsychus cebuensisBlack shamaCebu in the Philippines

The Seychelles magpie-robin is one of the most endangered birds in the world, with a population of less than 250, although this is a notable increase from just 16 in 1970.

References

  1. "Muscicapidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-15.
  2. Jobling, James A. (1991). A Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. Oxford University Press. p. 216. ISBN 0-19-854634-3.
  3. Wagler, Johann Georg (1827). Systema avium (in Latin). Stuttgart: J.G. Cottae. p. 306 (Gracula).
  4. Gray, George Robert (1840). A List of the Genera of Birds : with an Indication of the Typical Species of Each Genus. London: R. and J.E. Taylor. p. 21.
  5. Mayr, Ernst; Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, eds. (1964). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 10. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. pp. 64–65.
  6. Jobling, J.A. (2018). del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D.A.; de Juana, E. (eds.). "Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology". Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  7. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2021). "Chats, Old World flycatchers". IOC World Bird List Version 13.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 22 September 2023.


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