Magpie-Robin (Copsychus Saularis)

This is a sleek looking bird with a tapering tail. The male is predominantly black with white patches on the wings and belly. In the female the black is replaced by a slate grey or a brown. Magpies are believed to be so noisy that the term ‘magpie’ is used for humans who chatter too much, but contrary to this belief the magpie is observed by ornithologist as a rather shy, silent and unobtrusive bird that only utters an elegiac ‘swee-ee’ sitting in a shrub.

The magpie-robins do mimic other bird calls with great accuracy. But it is only in the breeding season that the males put up a grand show, singing heartily from a treetop early in the morning or at dawn before retiring for the night. While it sings the tail moves up and down in synchrony with the tune like the arms of an orchestra conductor. The breeding male is very possessive of his territory and protects it jealously. Intruders are rebuffed with a gallant show of aggression with the feathers all puffed up.


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This bird prefers deciduous forest, secondary jungles and areas adjoining human habitats. Its range within the Indian sub-continent extends from Myanmar and Bangladesh in the east to Pakistan in the west and all the way to Sri Lanka in the south excluding elevations above 2500m elevation and the arid regions.