Madagascar Magpie-Robin

About the Madagascar Magpie-Robin

The Madagascar magpie-robin (Copsychus albospecularis) is a species of chat in the Old World flycatcher family, Muscicapidae. The Madagascar magpie-robin is closely related to the Seychelles magpie-robin and the Oriental magpie-robin, and may form a superspecies with them. The species is endemic to Madagascar, where it is found across the island. Its distribution is sometimes scattered, as it occupies a wide range of habitats and can be very common or fairly rare depending on this. Three subspecies have been described: the nominate subspecies from northeastern Madagascar, C. a. inexpectatus from eastern and southeastern Madagascar and C. a. pica, which occupies the rest of the country. There is, however, considerable overlap between the subspecies and the exact boundaries between their ranges is unclear.

The Madagascar magpie-robin is around 18 cm (7 in) in length and weighs 21 to 24 g (0.74–0.85 oz). The plumage varies by sex; the male of the nominate subspecies has all-black plumage with a white shoulder patch and the female has a grey-brown crown, back and tail, grey-breast and throat and rufous wings and rump. The males of the... Wikipedia →