Copsychus stricklandii
Silhouette: Martin Bulla, based on François Desbordes' illustration · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week ~90%
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 30% of wildlife watchers report a White-crowned Shama sighting in Sepilok on a given day, based on 58 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 24th most-seen of the 242 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March, May–July and September
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a White-crowned Shama in Sepilok on a given day, against under 5% in January, the lowest month.
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.
3rd of 4
Of the 4 parks where we can rate White-crowned Shama sightings, Sepilok ranks 3rd at about 30%. The best odds are in Danum Valley Conservation Area (Malaysia, about 50%) and Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary (Malaysia, about 40%). 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 Sepilok (58 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.
