Oriental Magpie Robin

(Copsychus saularis)

(Adult female)

Size(20-22cm): Magpie Robin is a small bird, just a bit smaller than the Jungle Babbler.

Area: All India till about 1800m in Himalayas; not found in western Rajasthan and other hot and dry regions around.

Habitat: It doesn’t really matter because they are seen everywhere- near homes, forests, gardens, parks etc.

(Adult male)

My two words: The male has glossy black head, throat, upper breast, wings and white underparts, wing-patch and outer tail. The female is grey where the male is black. The young birds have a scaled brownish upper-parts and head as well.

Solitary or in pairs. It also the national bird of Bangladesh.

It is mostly seen near to the ground, hopping along branches. They are usually seen foraging in leaf-litter on the ground. Males sing aloud from tree tops during the breeding season( March-July).

They are mostly insectivorous but may sometimes take on to flower nectar or fruits. The diet mainly consists of insects, berries, nectar from flowers.

Eggs are usually 4-5 in number. The female incubates the eggs which take 8-14 days to hatch.

Very common one especially in lower Himalayas.

~Arjun Basandrai