Birds Thru My Eyes : MALAYSIA: White-crowned Shama

Monday 11 April 2016

White-crowned Shama

Order - Passeriformes
Family - Turdidae (Thrushes)

White-crowned Shama

Copsychus stricklandii

白顶鹊鸲 (bái dǐng què qú)

Malay : Murai-Hutan Ubun Putih

Japanese : シラガシキチョウ (shiraga shiki-chō)

Kanji 日語漢字 : 白髪四季鳥

Taxonomy update for 2022

The polytypic group White-rumped Shama (White-crowned) Copsychus malabaricus stricklandii/barbouri, with subspecies stricklandii and barbouri, is recognized as a separate species, White-crowned Shama Copsychus stricklandii, based on its distinct plumage and the demonstration of almost no nuclear admixture and introgression between the two forms despite a narrow hybrid zone (Lim et al. 2017).

We add a newly described subspecies of White-rumped Shama,
Copsychus malabaricus ngae Wu and Rheindt 2022, with range
“islands on the west side of the Thai-Malay Peninsula (from the
Thai/Myanmar border south to the Langkawi archipelago at the
Thai/Malayasian border)” (Wu and Rheindt 2022). Insert subspecies ngae
immediately following subspecies macrourus. We also recognize this
subspecies as a new monotypic group, White-rumped Shama (Long-tailed)
Copsychus malabaricus ngae. :

- White-rumped Shama (Copsychus malabaricus)
- White-crowned Shama (Copsychus stricklandii)

Size : 21–28 cm (including male tail 7 cm); 31–42 g

Subspecies (2) and Distribution

Copsychus stricklandii stricklandii (Motley & Dillwyn, 1855)
– Lowlands of n Borneo, Labuan, Balembangan and Banggi islands.
Copsychus stricklandii barbouri (Bangs & J. L. Peters, 1927)
– Maratua Islands (off n Borneo).