Bird Guide

Indian Robin vs Madagascar Magpie-Robin

Indian Robin (Copsychus fulicatus)

Indian Robin

Copsychus fulicatus

17 gShrubland

The Indian robin is sexually dimorphic in plumage, with the male being mainly black with a white shoulder patch or stripe whose visible extent can vary with posture. The northern populations have the upper plumage brownish, while the southern populations are black above. The males have chestnut undertail coverts and these are visible as the bird usually holds the 6–8 cm long tail raised upright. The females are brownish above, have no white shoulder stripe and are greyish below, with the vent a paler shade of chestnut than the males.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Indian Robin
Recorded by Vihansith Kulatunga · Call · Andamkulam (near Trincomalee), Trincomalee, Eastern Province, Sri Lanka · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Rison Thumboor from Thrissur, India · CC BY 2.0
Madagascar Magpie-Robin (Copsychus albospecularis)

Madagascar Magpie-Robin

Copsychus albospecularis

Small23 gForest

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 other two subspecies have more white of the wings and a white abdomen; the female of C. a. pica is much paler overall.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: (c) Nigel Voaden, some rights reserved (CC BY) · cc-by

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Indian Robin and Madagascar Magpie-Robin.