White-rumped Shama

White-rumped Shama

Flaying Animal | White-rumped Shama | The 11" male is dark and glossy. Head, throat, upper chest, back and wings are glossy black with purplish reflections. The rump, upper tail coverts and thighs are white. Underparts are a rich chestnut stage. The beak is black and the legs and feet  are flesh colored. The tail has dull black central feathers with graduated feathers on the side boldly tipped in white. The White-rumped Shama (Copsychus malabaricus) is a small passerine bird of the family Muscicapidae. It was formerly classified as a member of the Thrush family, Turdidae, causing it to be commonly known as the White-rumped Shama Thrush or simply Shama Thrush.

The female is similar in shape but with a slightly smaller tail. She is drably colored in a rather dull earthy brown. Inmatures resemble females for some time.

One of the finest songbirds in the Orient, the Shama Thrush (Copsychus malabaricus) is a much sought after softbill. Males are wonderful mimics, making it essential to keep them away from turkeys and creaking doors. They are great bathers and their plumage is usually kept in immaculate condition.

White-rumped Shama

Males are often aggressive during the breeding season, and should not be kept with small finches. The Shama is likely to become the "boss" of the aviary.

White-rumped Shama

These are highly insectivorous softbills, their diet must include a good quality universal food and varied livefood (crickets, beetles, caterpillars, spiders, mealworms etc). They will also occasionally take hard-boiled egg and grated vegetables.

White-rumped Shama

The female incubates her 4 to 5 eggs (which are dull green with brown-red mottling) for 13 or 14 days in a cup-shaped nest. The babies fledge at 14 days and can be sexed at 3 to 4 months of age.

In Asia, their habitat is dense undergrowth especially in bamboo forests. In Hawaii, they are common in valley forests or on the ridges of the southern Ko'olaus, and tend to nest in undergrowth or low trees of lowland broadleaf forests.

Breeding
In South Asia, they breed from January to September but mainly in April to June laying a clutch of four or five eggs in a nest placed in the hollow of tree. During courtship, males pursue the female, alight above the female, give a shrill call, and then flick and fan out their tail feathers. It is followed by a rising and falling flight pattern by both sexes. It the male is unsuccessful, the female will threaten the male, gesturing with the mouth open.

White-rumped Shama