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White-crowned shama

White-crowned shama
Not recognized (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Muscicapidae
Genus: Copsychus
Species: C. stricklandii
Binomial name
Copsychus stricklandii
Motley & Dillwyn, 1855
Subspecies
  • Copsychus malabaricus stricklandii
  • Copsychus malabaricus barbouri

The white-crowned shama (Copsychus stricklandii) is a bird in the Old World flycatcher family. It is endemic to the Southeast Asian island of Borneo.

It is closely related to the white-rumped shama (Copsychus malabaricus), and is sometimes considered a subspecies of that species. In turn, the white-crowned shama has two subspecies:

The specific name was bestowed in honour of Hugh Edwin Strickland

The white-crowned shama is about 21–28 cm (8.3–11.0 in) in length (including a 7 cm (2.8 in) tail in adult males) and 31–42 g (1.1–1.5 oz) in weight. Mainly blue-black upperparts contrast with orange-rufous underparts. It has a white rump and black throat. It is largely similar in appearance to the white-rumped shama subspecies C. m. suavis, which replaces it in southern and western Borneo, and hybridises with it where the ranges meet. It differs in having a white, rather than black, crown. The distinctive Maratua form C. s. barbouri is about 20% longer than the nominate, and has an all-black tail, rather than white outer rectrices.

White-crowned shamas are bred by local aviculturists in Borneo as cage-birds valued for their singing ability. They continue to be trapped as it is believed that wild-caught young birds are stronger, and better songsters, than those bred in captivity.



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