White-Rumped+Shama+(Copsychus+malabaricus)

White-Rumped Shama //Copsychus malabaricus// (Scopoli, 1788)

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Overview
When thinking about birds in Singapore, one will normally think of the commonly seen Javan Myna or the Eurasian Tree Sparrow, which are both ranked relatively high on the 2010 Mid-Year Bird census (1st and 13th respectively). One will not normally think, or even know of the White-Rumped Shama (//Copsychus malabaricus//) (Figure 1), considered to be a rare bird in mainland Singapore. The White-Rumped Shama is a predominantly black bird living in forested areas. Their most renowned feature is their beautiful song, directly resulting in their status as one of the most popular caged birds in Singapore. Do you know that one of the first recordings of bird song ever made was from the White-Rumped Shama? It was recorded by Ludwig Koch from Germany in 1889.

Another interesting fact was them having been featured on both Singapore's stamps and currency notes. They were featured on the S$50 notes of the "Bird Series" currency notes released by the Monetary Authority of Singapore between 1976 and 1984 (Figure 2). In addition, they have been depicted twice in Singapore's postage stamps (50-cent stamp) in both 1962 and 1978 (Figure 2).



[|Nomenclature]
**Binomial (Scientific)**: //Copsychus malabaricus// (Scopoli, 1788)

**Vernacular (Common)**: English:White-Rumped Shama, Malay: Murai Hutan/Murai Batu For other languages: see []
 * [|Etymology]: **

"Shama" was derived from a Hindi term meaning "song bird", which was formerly used to describe members of the Thrush family. In Malay, it is called Murai Hutan/Murai Batu or Forest Magpie, as it is usually found in forested areas and has close association with the Magpie Robin in Singapore, despite both species not being true magpies. In addition, the species was called “White-Rumped Shama” due to the obvious and distinctive white rump, in contrast with the black of its body. The rump, a popular term in bird descriptions, refers to the part of the bird's body just before the start of the tail. **[|Synonyms:]** None **Original description:** Original description was by J.A. Scopoli from a publication of an account of new descriptions of birds and mammals collected by Pierre Sonnerat on his voyages, between 1786 to 1788. The publication can be assessed [|here]. However, some parts of it are in a foreign language. It is of note that the exact year is uncertain and as a result, some websites state the original description as 1786, while some sites state it as 1788. For the purposes of this species page, the year of the original description will be taken as 1788.

Worldwide
The White-Rumped Shama have an extremely large range, from South-East Asia and the Greater Sunda Islands, to South China and India; where they are native. As a result of deliberate introduction to supplement native fauna, their range was extended even further to the Hawaiian Islands, where they were introduced starting from the 1930s (Kauai in 1931, Oahu in 1940 and Maui in late 1900s). Their introduction was apparently rather successful. A more specific, non-exhaustive list of areas worldwide is shown below and highlighted in orange in Figure 3 : <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, Hawaii (introduced) <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify;">



<span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify;">

<span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify;">**Singapore**
<span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">In Singapore, the White-Rumped Shama are rather rare in the Mainland, but more numerous on the offshore islands, such as Pulau Tekong, Pulau Ubin and Sentosa. The subspecies found in Singapore is //C. m. tricolor// (For more details, see later section on Taxonomy and Systematics). <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">A more specific, non-exhaustive list of areas in Singapore is given below and reflected in Figure 4: <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Bukit Batok Nature Park (Light blue tag), Central Catchment Nature Reserve (Purple tag), Kent Ridge Park (Orange tag), Pulau Ubin (Green tag), Pulau Tekong (Dark brown tag), Sentosa (Red tag), Singapore Botanic Gardens (Yellow tag) <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify;">

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Morphology
<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Adults:** In general, White-Rumped Shama adults have a distinctive and attractive morphological appearance (Figure 5). They have a dark-coloured (blue-black), relatively glossy nape and upper breast. Their bill, wings and tail are black, and they have pink legs and feet. In addition, they have a rufous, or chestnut coloured belly and underparts. Their black tail is extremely long, with white outer feathers, which allow them to change directions quickly. Their most distinctive morphological character, as well as their namesake, is their white rump, referring to the part of the bird's body just before the start of the tail. Significant sexual dimorphism has been observed, and will be elaborated in further detail below. <span style="color: #0806b2; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: justify;">

<span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Males are more striking, with glossy blue-black head, breast and upperparts. Their underparts is a deep rufous orange. In addition, they are larger, averaging 27cm in length, with a tail of around 18cm long. They resemble that of Figure 5. <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">**Females:** Compared to males, females are duller, with a more greyish-brown colouration. They have a less glossy and more greyish head, breast and upperparts, more-brownish chest and duller rufous-orange underparts. In addition, they are smaller, averaging 22cm in length, with a tail of around 14.5cm (Figure 6). <span style="color: #0806b2; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">A summary table of comparison between males and females is given below:
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Males: **

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> || **<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Females ** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> ||
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Gender || **<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Males **
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Colouration || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Striking || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Duller ||
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Head, breast and upperparts || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Blue-black (Glossy) || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Greyish (Less glossy) ||
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Chest and underparts || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Deep rufous-orange || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Brownish, duller rufous-orange ||
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Size || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Larger (average 27cm) || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Smaller (average 22cm) ||
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Tail length || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Around 18cm || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Around 14.5cm ||

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Juveniles have shorter tails and have the greyish- brown colouration of the females, with a more blotchy chest (Figure 7).
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Juveniles: **

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Diagnosis
<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> The White-Rumped Shama can be distinguished from the closely-related Oriental Magpie Robin (//Copsychus saularis//). Both species are two of the most widespread species of the genus //Copsychus//. Moreover, both species share many similarities, namely, being rare on mainland Singapore, having similar colouration (generally black body, bill, wing and tail), and having similar morphology (long black tail and white outer feathers). The method of differentiating the White-Rumped Shama from the Oriental Magpie Robin is shown in the table below:

||
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Species || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">White-Rumped Shama //<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">(C. malabaricus) // || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Oriental Magpie Robin //(C. saularis)//  ||
 * |||| <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">[[image:Shama 7.jpg width="709" height="271" align="center" caption="Figure 8. (Left) C. malabaricus (Photo: Jason Thompson) (Right) C. saularis (Photo: J.M. Garg)"]]
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Legs || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Pink || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Grey ||
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">White Rump || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Present || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Absent ||
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Bold White Wingbars || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Absent || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Present ||
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Underparts || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Chestnut-coloured or rufous for both males and females || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">White for males and dull grey for females ||
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Habitat || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Old and thick forests || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Coastal areas and open woodlands ||

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Song
<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The most valuable asset of the White-Rumped Shama is their beautiful song, as their songs are not only loud and melodious, but rich in notes and tonal quality as well. It was found that each individual has song elements that are almost exclusively their own private utterances, as such, their songs can be rather varied. They also have elements that are reserved for their partner, serving as a distinct indication to secure the return of the partner as quickly as possible. Their beautiful song is the main contributor to their popularity in the caged bird trade, with their owners entering them into songbird competitions. The White-Rumped Shama are also good imitators of the songs of other birds and sounds, and are widely believed to acquire at least part of their songs by imitation. Apparently, the males are the more consistent and beautiful singers (with a complex, beautiful song), with the females singing short songs only during the breeding season or when in the presence of their male partners. This is because in males, song primarily functions both as a territorial signal and mate-attracting signal. The sound clips provided below showcase the White-Rumped Shama's beautiful yet varied songs. <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: justify;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: justify;"> media type="custom" key="26907392"media type="custom" key="26907366"  <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: justify;"> <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The video below shows a male White-Rumped Shama singing: ===<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: justify;"> media type="youtube" key="lpsP7TVMbRI" width="560" height="315" align="center" ===

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Call
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Male and females often vocalise within their territories. They often call with a harsh 'tschak' or 'tck' while foraging or alarmed by disturbance within their territory. They also use their call to indicate their presence to others. Their call can be listened from the sound clip below:<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: justify;"> media type="custom" key="26907292" align="center"

<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">To listen to more songs and calls of the White-Rumped Shama, click [|HERE].

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Habitat
<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> The White-Rumped Shama are found in forested areas, in secondary jungle or where there is dense underbrush or thick wood cover. They bathe in pools and streams in the forest in order to maintain their feathers as the feathers undergo wear and tear. Overall, they depend moderately on the forest and they do not avoid human habitats.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Behaviour
<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> The White-Rumped Shama are very shy birds and are more often heard (through their melodious songs and loud, clear calls) than seen. They are mainly active in the morning and evening when they may be rarely spotted in flight or perching on tree branches. In addition, they are extremely territorial, and sing to drive away potential competition. The feeding, nesting, and care of young occur almost entirely within the territory. Within their territory, their gait consists of a mixture of hops and dashes, with an occasional pause and tilting of the head to one side. This is seen in the video below where one can observe the series of hops and the head tilting of the White-Rumped Shama.<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: justify;">

media type="youtube" key="CfrjdTIpAGU" width="428" height="336" align="center"

<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Diet
<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> The diet of the White-Rumped Shama consist of invertebrates, specifically insects. They feed on insects including cockroaches, grasshoppers, caterpillars, centipedes and earthworms (Figure 9). They usually pick up their prey from the ground or among bushes using a short, jerky run. They feed on the forest floor during twilight hours .<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: justify;">

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Reproductive Cycle
<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">White-Rumped Shama are both sexually dichromatic and dimorphic. They generally breed from March to June. Their breeding cycle consists of courtship, nesting and incubation and juvenile care.

Males usually pursue the female by positioning themselves above the female, give a shrill call, then flick and fan out their tail feathers. This is followed by a rising and falling flight pattern for both the male and female, and more frequent fanning displays by the male with the tail. Females that do not wish to mate will threaten the male and gesture with their mouth open. This is shown in the video below: <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: justify;">
 * Courtship:**

media type="youtube" key="uJaxuPtpnyo" width="560" height="315" align="center" <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Nesting and incubation:** The nest is usually only built by the female, located within a cavity in a low tree or in the undergrowth, and padded with rootlets and leaves. One egg is usually laid per day, yet all eggs (often in three or four egg clutches) will tend to hatch on the same day during the morning hours. The eggs are white to light green with many reddish-brown spots, and measure approximately 17 by 22 millimeters (Figure 10). Incubation will last between 12-15 days and may be conducted by the female or by both parents. Nest building and egg laying were first recorded in March. Nesting activity then peaked in April and decreased through May, June and July. <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: justify;">

**<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Juvenile care and development: ** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Both parents participate in feeding the young when they are hatched. Hatchlings are blind and featherless, only opening their eyes after around six days and developing complete feathers after 11 days.

<span style="color: #0806b2; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Singapore's caged bird trade
<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> The caged bird trade in Singapore is primarily an import and re-export trade involving several important importers or exporters, together with a domestic retail trade involving a number of small shops. Singapore plays an important role as the main transshipment point for the South East Asian bird trade, in which the largest share of trade passes. The White-Rumped Shama are mainly imported from Malaysia and Indonesia.

In Singapore's caged bird trade, the value of the bird is normally judged by two aspects: physical appearance and the song of the bird. This has resulted in the involvement of songbirds in 90% or more of the bird trade in Singapore. Being deemed as the best songbird in the Malay Peninsula by several ornithologists, longer-tailed White-Rumped Shama will usually fetch a higher price and used for breeding as well. An individual's song quality is also judged on variety and tonal quality. White-Rumped Shama are usually entered into songbird competitions by their owners (such as that shown in Figure 11), with a heavy demand bias towards the male as they are typically the more beautiful singers.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Despite being obtained mainly from imports, the caged bird trade in Singapore does unfortunately involve illegal poaching as well. Poaching has been a persistent issue in Singapore. From 2010 to June 2012, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) has received reports of 53 illegal poaching incidents. There have been reports of traps found around nature areas and poachers caught in Singapore, as seen from these articles by WildSingapore:

(Poacher fined $500 for trapping wild birds ) [] (NParks gets tough as poaching is on the rise here) [] (Poachers swoop in on feathered wildlife in Singapore ) []

According to Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore's (AVA) regulations, under the Wild Animals and Birds Act, it is an offence for any person to kill, take or keep any wild animal or bird, other than those specified in the Schedule such as mynas, pigeons and crows, without a license. Any person found doing so shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding S$1,000 and to the forfeiture of the animal. There is also a hotline for the public to inform AVA at 63257625 if any suspected poaching activities are spotted.

Unfortunately for the White-Rumped Shama, their territorial nature result in their tendency to stay in the same area, thus allowing poachers to locate them easily. This has contributed to their near extinction and rarity on the Singapore mainland.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">IUCN status
<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> The White-Rumped Shama were classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List in 2013, mainly due to their extremely large range. For a more detailed explanation, please refer to [].

Throughout the years since the White-Rumped Shama has been recognised by IUCN, its IUCN status has always been listed as Least Concern, as shown in Figure 12. <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: justify;">

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Threats (Global)
<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> The exact global population size has not been quantified. It is believed that the population is large as the species is described as common in some countries within its global range. However, it is very likely that the global population is currently in decline due to ongoing habitat destruction and over exploitation.

Habitat destruction is mostly caused by selective logging of forests, such as that in biodiversity hotspots like Borneo. This can result in many negative impacts, such as a reduction in the availability of food resources, especially insects. It was found in a study that insects were less abundant overall in logged areas compared to primary forest. This especially impacts species like the White-Rumped Shama whose diet mainly consist of insects. In addition, other significant negative impacts include the loss of breeding sites, loss of suitable nest materials, increase in nest predation and changes in micro-climate.

On the other hand, overexploitation is likely caused by the popularity of the White-Rumped Shama in the caged bird trade and resulted in their population decline to near-extinction in some countries within its global range.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Threats (Singapore)
<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> The White-Rumped Shama is a popular caged bird in Singapore and constantly trapped by poachers, resulting in their rarity on Mainland Singapore. It is believed that they are threatened by illegal trapping. They are still relatively present, however, on the offshore islands such as Pulau Ubin. As this fact is becoming more widely known to the general public, it is worrying whether poachers will change theirpoaching locations to these offshore islands and cause a further decrease in their population in Singapore.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; line-height: 1.5; text-align: justify;">Taxonavigation

 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Animalia ||
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Chordata ||
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Aves ||
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Passeriformes ||
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Muscicapidae ||
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Copsychus ||
 * //<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">C.malabaricus // ||

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">[|Subspecies]
<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Due to the broad geographic distribution of the White-Rumped Shama, they exhibit intraspecific plumage variation, resulting in numerous subspecies recognized to account for this variability. According to the Clements Checklist of Birds of the World in 2014, there currently exists 19 subspecies, each with a different native geographic range. Detailed descriptions for each of the subspecies and how they can be differentiated from each other are currently unavailable. The complete list of the subspecies (of native White Rumped Shama) and their respective geographic ranges are listed in Table 1 below : <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">In Singapore, the subspecies identified was //C. m. tricolor//. In addition, introduced White-Rumped Shama to Hawaii (Kauai and Oahu) were identified as the subspecies //C. m. indicus// in 1973. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Table 1. List of //C. malabaricus// subspecies and their respective geographic range
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Subspecies || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Range ||
 * //<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">C. m. malabaricus // || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">South peninsular India ||
 * //<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">C. m. leggei // || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Sri Lanka ||
 * //<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">C. m. indicus // || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Nepal to Assam and North-East India ||
 * //<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">C. m. interpositus // || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">South-West China to Myanmar, Thailand, Indochina and Mergui Arch ||
 * //<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">C. m. minor // || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Hainan (Southern China) ||
 * //<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">C. m. mallopercnus // || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Malay Peninsula, Riau Archipelago and Lingga Archipelago ||
 * //<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">C. m. tricolor // || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Sumatra, including Java, Banka, Belitung and Karimata Islands ||
 * //<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">C. m. mirabilis // || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Prinsen I. (Sunda Strait) ||
 * //<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">C. m. melanurus // || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Islands off North-West Sumatra ||
 * //<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">C. m. opisthopelus // || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Islands off South-West Sumatra ||
 * //<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">C. m. javanus // || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Central Java ||
 * //<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">C. m. omissus // || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">East Java ||
 * //<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">C. m. ochroptilus // || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Anambas Islands (South China Sea) ||
 * //<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">C. m. abbotti // || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Bangka and Belitung islands (off Borneo) ||
 * //<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">C. m. eumesus // || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Natuna Islands (off Borneo) ||
 * //<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">C. m. suavis // || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Borneo (except northern part) ||
 * //<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">C. m. nigricauda // || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Kangean Islands and Matasiri I. (Java Sea) ||
 * //<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">C. m. stricklandii // || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Lowlands of North Borneo, Labuan, Balembangan and Banggi islands ||
 * //<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">C. m. barbouri // || <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Maratua Islands (off North Borneo) ||

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">There have been uncertainty throughout the years over whether the subspecies //C. m. suavis// and //C. m. stricklandii// hybridize. This has led to taxonomists either lumping the two subspecies together, or recognizing them as distinct subspecies. Through extensive literature review and specimen examination, it has been recognised that //C. m. stricklandii// should be maintained as a subspecies of //C. malabricus//, one of the main reasons being that their [|ND2 (A mitochondria gene)] divergence of 2.7% is within the commonly detected range of conspecific passerine taxa.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Type Information
<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> The species was originally described by J.A. Scopoli between 1786-1788 (exact year unknown) in Deliciae Flora et Fauna Insubricae Ticini. (See Nomenclature Section above for more details). <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> The type information of The White-Rumped Shama was provided by Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (MVZ) Bird Collection (Arctos) and summarized below :

Location: Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (MVZ), University of California, Berkeley Catalogue Number: 23517 Sex: Likely to be male Preparation: Skin Collector: Harold C. Bryant (Collector Number: 561) Date collected: 24th July 1913 Location collected: San Francisco

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Phylogeny
<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> The White-Rumped Shama have been previously classified as being part of the Thrush family (Turdidae), because of its similar gait (a mixture of hops and dashes, with an occasional pause and tilting of the head to one side) with several local species of thrushes. This resulted in its previous naming as Shama Thrush or White-Rumped Shama Thrush.

However, DNA studies have now put them under the Flycatcher family (Muscicapidae). From Figure 13, we can see that the Turdidae and Muscicapidae Family (circled in the Figure), are separate sister [|clades]. This finding has received strong support, whereby a “thrush-flycatcher” lineage with Turdidae as a sister clade to Saxicolini-Muscicapini (highlighted in Figure 13), has received support through different methods of phylogenetic analysis. <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: justify;">

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Exploring deeper into the phylogeny of //Copsychus// shamas, the genus //Trichixos// appears to be the sister clade of magpie robins (//C. saularis//), and together they are the sister clade of //Copsychus// shamas. Within //Copsychus// shamas, //C. luzoniensis// is sister to a clade consisting of //C.malabaricus,// //C. niger// and //C.cebuensis//. Within the White-Rumped Shama, //C.malabaricus//, subspecies //C. m. stricklandii// is sister to a clade consisting of Western Bornean //suavis//, Malayan //mallopercnus// and Hainanese //minor// (Figure 14). The tree in Figure 14 reflects the combined gene trees of [|ND2], [|Myo2]and [|TGFβ 2-5]. <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">



<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Barcode data
<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> The DNA barcode data summary for the White-Rumped Shama can be found at []

A screenshot summarizing the main details (Figure 15) is shown below: <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">



<span style="color: #0606b2; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Future possibilities
<span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> There seem to be hardly any research conducted on the population distribution and population genetics of the White-Rumped Shama in Singapore. Thus, possible future research can likely investigate whether White-Rumped Shama spotted in the wild are indeed wild birds, or if they are released or escaped caged birds. This is because unfavored or unsold caged birds are often deliberately released into the wild, thus possibly impacting the ecosystem. However, it is uncertain how widespread of a problem it is and this can likely be investigated through such future research. <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">In addition, the detailed description of each of the subspecies of the White-Rumped Shama and the method of differentiating each subspecies can be investigated through future research, as such information is currently unavailable at the moment and will prove to be very useful. == ==

<span style="color: #0606b2; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Useful Links
<span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">White-Rumped Shama on[| BirdLife International] <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">White-Rumped Shama on [|Singapore Infopedia] <span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">White-Rumped Shama on [|The DNA of Singapore]