Copsychus malabaricus
Silhouette: Martin Bulla, based on François Desbordes' illustration · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
The white-rumped shama (Copsychus malabaricus) is a passerine bird in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. Native to densely vegetated habitats in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, its popularity as a cage-bird and songster has led to it being introduced elsewhere. The Larwo shama, the Kangean shama and the Sri Lanka shama were formerly considered to be conspecific with the white-rumped shama.
The white-rumped shama was formally described in 1786 by the Austrian naturalist Giovanni Antonio Scopoli under the binomial name Muscicapa malabarica. Scopoli based his account on "Le gobe-mouches à longue queue de Gingi" that had been described in 1782 by the French naturalist Pierre Sonnerat in the second volume of his book Voyage aux Indes orientales et à la Chine. Sonnerat mentioned that the bird was found on the Malabar Coast of India. The type locality is Mahé. The white-rumped shama is now one of 17 species placed in the genus Copsychus that was introduced in 1827 by the German naturalist Johann Georg Wagler.
Nine subspecies are recognised: Wikipedia →
Recording0:06
Malaysia · 2025
© Lynette · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:32
Malaysia · 2019
© ivyesra · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:40
United States · 2024
© Susan Fawcett · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cat Tien National Park | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 2 | Kaeng Krachan National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 3 | Khao Luang National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 4 | Khao Sok National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 5 | Taman Negara National Park | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 6 | Cuc Phuong National Park | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 7 | Khao Yai National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 8 | Kanha National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 9 | Manas National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 10 | Royal Bardia National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 11 | Chitwan National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 12 | Kaziranga National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 13 | Mudumalai National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 14 | Doi Inthanon National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 15 | Bandhavgarh National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 16 | Royal Manas National Park | 🇧🇹 Bhutan | |
| 17 | Jim Corbett National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 18 | Nagarhole National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 19 | Bandipur National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 20 | Namdapha National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kaohsiung | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | |
| 2 | Hanoi | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 3 | Taichung | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | |
| 4 | Guwahati | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Tainan | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | |
| 6 | Kuala Lumpur | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 7 | Ho Chi Minh City | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 8 | Taipei | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | |
| 9 | Dehradun | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 10 | Mumbai | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Disney's Animal Kingdom | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | San Diego Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Prague Zoo | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 4 | Basel Zoo | 🇨🇭 Switzerland | |
| 5 | Copenhagen Zoo | 🇩🇰 Denmark | |
| 6 | Barcelona Zoo | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 7 | North Carolina Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Zoo Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Songkhla Zoo | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 10 | Marwell Zoo | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 11 | Kyiv Zoo | 🇺🇦 Ukraine | |
| 12 | Woodland Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 13 | Wrocław Zoological Garden | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 14 | Oregon Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 15 | Taronga Zoo | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 16 | Gembira Loka Zoo | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 17 | Philadelphia Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 18 | Surabaya Zoo | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 19 | London Zoo | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 20 | Bandung Zoo | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 21 | Bird Paradise | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 22 | Riverbanks Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 23 | Aquarama Barcelona | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 24 | Lincoln Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 25 | Rainforest Wild Asia | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 26 | Vogelpark Avifauna | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 27 | Kebon Kewan Semarang | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 28 | Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 29 | Tracy Aviary | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 30 | Bioparc Fuengirola | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 31 | National Aviary | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 32 | Africarium | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 33 | Oceanium | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 34 | Sea World Indonesia | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 35 | Edward Youde Aviary | 🇭🇰 Hong Kong SAR China | |
| 36 | Rákosův pavilon | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 37 | Velemlokárium | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 38 | BXSea Aquarium | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 39 | Jakarta Aquarium | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 40 | Lembang Park & Zoo | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 41 | Snakeroom Serpentarium | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 42 | terrarium ogrodu zoologicznego we Wrocławiu | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 43 | Vogelpark Bali | 🇮🇩 Indonesia |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a White-rumped Shama sighting in Cuc Phuong National Park on a given day, based on 17 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 15th most-seen of the 159 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
November to January
In those months about 60% of wildlife watchers report a White-rumped Shama in Cuc Phuong National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March, the lowest month. Those are among Cuc Phuong National Park's driest months, with about 65 mm of rain a month against 390 mm in August.
Between 3 and 6 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most White-rumped Shama sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
6th of 20
Of the 20 parks where we can rate White-rumped Shama sightings, Cuc Phuong National Park ranks 6th at about 40%. The best odds are in Cat Tien National Park (Vietnam, about 70%), Kaeng Krachan National Park (Thailand, about 70%) and Khao Luang National Park (Thailand, about 60%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the White-rumped Shama is recorded against all the birds logged in Cuc Phuong National Park (17 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
