Copsychus stricklandii
Silhouette: Martin Bulla, based on François Desbordes' illustration · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The white-crowned shama (Copsychus stricklandii) is a medium sized passerine bird in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It is endemic to the Southeast Asian island of Borneo. The Maratua shama was formerly treated as a subspecies.
It is closely related to the white-rumped shama (Copsychus malabaricus), and has in the past been sometimes considered a subspecies of that species. The Maratua shama was formerly treated as a subspecies but is now treated as a separate species based on the differences in morphology and mitochondrial DNA sequences. The white-crowned shama is now monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
The specific name was bestowed in honour of Hugh Edwin Strickland The white-crowned shama is about 21–28 cm (8.3–11.0 in) in length (including a 7 cm (2.8 in) tail in adult males) and 31–42 g (1.1–1.5 oz) in weight. Mainly blue-black upperparts contrast with orange-rufous underparts. It has a white rump and black throat. It is largely similar in appearance to the white-rumped shama subspecies C. m. suavis, which replaces it in southern and western Borneo, and hybridises with it where the ranges meet. It differs in having a white, rather... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Danum Valley Conservation Area | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 2 | Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 3 | Sepilok | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 4 | Kinabalu Park | 🇲🇾 Malaysia |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a White-crowned Shama sighting in Kinabalu Park on a given day, based on 15 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 49th most-seen of the 247 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May and June
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a White-crowned Shama in Kinabalu Park on a given day, against under 5% in March–April, September–October and December–January, the lowest months.
Between 11 pm and 2 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most White-crowned 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.
4th of 4
Of the 4 parks where we can rate White-crowned Shama sightings, Kinabalu Park ranks 4th at about 20%. The best odds are in Danum Valley Conservation Area (Malaysia, about 50%), Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary (Malaysia, about 40%) and Sepilok (Malaysia, about 30%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the White-crowned Shama is recorded against all the birds logged in Kinabalu Park (15 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.
