Oriental magpie-robin
Copsychus saularis (Linnaeus, 1758)
The oriental magpie-robin (Copsychus saularis) is a bird in the family Muscicapidae, order Passeriformes, belonging to the group of songbirds and other perching birds. It is a small bird with an adult body mass of 36 g, and up to 43 g reported.
-_Male_at_Kolkata_I_IMG_3003.jpg){kind=link}
Quick facts about the oriental magpie-robin
An invertivore and carnivore by trophic level, it lives in woodland, forages on the ground and is sedentary. It lays 3.85 eggs per clutch with 2 clutches per year, the eggs are incubated for 12.5 days, and the IUCN lists it as Least Concern, not a threatened category.
- Weight
- 36 g – 43 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 5.92 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- woodlandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 12.5 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 3.2 – 3.85src for Young per litter or clutch
- Litters or clutches a year
- 2src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the oriental magpie-robin
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
.jpg){kind=link}
Where does the oriental magpie-robin live?
Not recorded
What is the oriental magpie-robin?
The Oriental magpie-robin (Copsychus saularis) is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but now considered an Old World flycatcher. The males are distinctive black and white birds with a long tail that is held upright as they forage on the ground or perch conspicuously. Occurring across most of the Indian subcontinent and parts of Southeast Asia, they are common birds in urban gardens as well as forests. They are particularly well known for their songs and are popular as cagebirds.
The oriental magpie-robin is considered the national bird of Bangladesh.
From the Wikipedia article “Oriental magpie-robin” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oriental_magpie-robin&oldid=1376183225), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the oriental magpie-robin sound like?
Is the oriental magpie-robin endangered?
The oriental magpie-robin is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the oriental magpie-robin classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyMuscicapidae
- genusCopsychus
- SpeciesCopsychus saularis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Gracula saularis, Lanius niger
Other names and names in other languages (69)
- Oriental magpie robinEnglish
- Oriental magpie robinEnglish
- Cicém pala pakiAcehnese
- দহিকতৰাAssamese
- দোয়েলBangla
- দোয়েল পাখিBangla
- Rossinyol garser comúCatalan
- šáma stračíCzech
- robin frithWelsh
- DayalDanish
- DajalschamaGerman
- DajaldrosselGerman
- Orient-DajalGerman
- orienta ŝamaoEsperanto
- Orienta pigonajtingaloEsperanto
- Shama orientalSpanish
- Copsychus saularisSpanish
- pugal-harakööbikEstonian
- سینهسرخ پیسه خاوریPersian
- harakkataskuFinnish
- Shama dayalFrench
- દૈયડGujarati
- दयालHindi
- दहियरHindi
- crnoleđi živičnjakCroatian
- Dayal-rigóHungarian
- Kucica kampungIndonesian
- Merlo gazza orientaleItalian
- Pettirosso gazza orientaleItalian
- シキチョウJapanese
- KacerJavanese
- ಮಡಿವಾಳKannada
- 까치딱새Korean
- rytinė šamaLithuanian
- žagatu strazdsLatvian
- മണ്ണാത്തിപ്പുള്ള്Malayalam
- दयाळMarathi
- दयाळ (पक्षी)Marathi
- Murai kampungMalay
- Burung Murai KampungMalay
- धोबिनी चराNepali
- DayallijsterDutch
- orientskjæreskvettNorwegian
- ᨶ᩠ᨠᩫᨧᩦᨩᩯᩢ᩠ᨷnod
- sroczek zmiennyPolish
- اورینٹل میگپائی روبنWestern Panjabi
- dominicoPortuguese
- shama-orientalPortuguese
- Сорочий шамаRussian
- Индийская сорочья славкаRussian
- Сорочий шама-дроздRussian
- පොල්කිච්චාSinhala
- šáma stračiaSlovak
- азијска сврака-робинSerbian
- Obični svrakasti drozdSerbian
- orientshamaSwedish
- NatalträdnäktergalSwedish
- SkatnäktergalSwedish
- குண்டுக்கரிச்சான்Tamil
- வண்ணாத்திக்குருவிTamil
- வண்ணாத்திக்குருவி கருப்பு வெள்ளைக்குருவிTamil
- ಬೊಳ್ಳೆರಿ ಮಾಣಿಗTulu
- นกกางเขนบ้านThai
- Çinhindi Alaca BülbülüTurkish
- шама індійськаUkrainian
- Ша́ма індійськаUkrainian
- Chích chòe thanVietnamese
- 鵲鴝Chinese
- 鹊鸲Chinese
Relatives of the oriental magpie-robin
Other species in the same genus Copsychus.
White-rumped shama
Copsychus malabaricus
Seychelles magpie-robin
Copsychus sechellarum
Madagascar magpie-robin
Copsychus albospecularis
White-vented shama
Copsychus niger
Black shama
Copsychus cebuensis
White-browed shama
Copsychus luzoniensis
CompareOriental magpie-robin vs White-rumped shamaOriental magpie-robin vs Seychelles magpie-robinOriental magpie-robin vs Madagascar magpie-robinOriental magpie-robin vs White-vented shama
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the oriental magpie-robin?
The oriental magpie-robin is a bird in the family Muscicapidae, part of the group of songbirds and other perching birds.
How heavy is the oriental magpie-robin?
An adult Oriental magpie-robin weighs 36 g, with up to 43 g reported, which places it in the small size class.
What does the oriental magpie-robin eat?
The oriental magpie-robin is an invertivore, and its trophic level is carnivore.
What habitat does the oriental magpie-robin live in?
The oriental magpie-robin lives in woodland, where it forages on the ground, and it is sedentary.
Is the oriental magpie-robin endangered?
No. The oriental magpie-robin is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does the oriental magpie-robin live?
The lifespan given for the oriental magpie-robin is 5.9 years.
How many eggs does the oriental magpie-robin lay?
The oriental magpie-robin lays 3.85 eggs per clutch and has 2 clutches per year, with an incubation period of 12.5 days.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Oriental magpie-robin (Copsychus saularis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/oriental-magpie-robin
“Oriental magpie-robin (Copsychus saularis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/oriental-magpie-robin.
@misc{oriental_magpie_robin_2026,
title = {Oriental magpie-robin (Copsychus saularis)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/oriental-magpie-robin},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}