Overview

White-rumped Shama: Native to Southeast Asia, this bird has a glossy blue-black head, nape, back and upperbreast. It has black wings and tail, white rump and outer tail feathers, rufous belly and lower breast, a black bill and pink legs and feet. Long tail enables it to change directions quickly in the dense underbrush it prefers. Feeds on insects, earthworms and fruit. Sexes are similar.

White-rumped Shama: Introduced to Kauai in 1931, Oahu in 1940 and Maui in the late 1900s in an effort to supplement the native fauna. They also occur on Molokai and Lanai. They are commonly found in valley forests and on the ridges of the southern Ko'olaus. Indigenous to Southeast Asia, India, and some Indonesian Islands.

Voice Text

"Tck"

• The White-rumped Shama is also called Shama Thrush or White-rumped Shama Thrush because it was formerly placed in the Thrush family, Turdidae.
• One of the first recordings ever made of birdsong was of this species. Ludwig Koch of Germany recorded a captive bird in 1889 using an Edison wax cylinder.
• They are very territorial, and males with longer tails may have larger territories.
• A group of flycatchers has many collective nouns, including an "outfield", "swatting", "zapper", and "zipper" of flycatchers.

Old World Flycatchers (Muscicapidae)

ORDER

The Old World flycatchers are one of the one hundred forty-two families of birds in the order PASSERIFORMES (pronounced pas-ser-i-FOR-meez); a large taxonomic order that includes bird families such as the nuthatches, swallows, and starlings.

FAMILY TAXONOMY

There are three hundred and fifteen species of Old World flycatchers in forty-eight genera in the Muscicapidae (pronounced musi-KAP-uh-dee), a family mostly found in Eurasia and Africa.

NORTH AMERICA

There are sixteen species of Old World flycatchers in seven genera in the Muscicapidae that have occurred in North America and Hawaii. All but three of these species are vagrants to the region.

KNOWN FOR

The members of this family are known for their cheery, chattering songs and small size. In Europe, the European Robin is one of the most well known, confiding, garden bird species.

PHYSICAL

The Old World flycatchers are small birds with thin, rather short bills. Although the wheatears and a few other species have long wings, most have short wings, medium-length tails, and rather long, strong legs and feet for hopping on the ground.

COLORATION

Members of the Muscicapidae often show different shades of brown, chestnut, gray, white, and black in their plumage. Some species also have patches of red and several have plumages that are predominantly blue.

GEOGRAPHIC HABITAT

Members of the Muscicapidae occur in a wide variety of habitats that include tundra, grasslands, marshes, boreal forests, gardens, and tropical forests. The two species that breed in North America are birds of the tundra and willow thickets. A third species that was introduced to Hawaii occurs in gardens. The other North American Muscicapidae species are vagrants from Asia.

MIGRATION

In North America, all members of this family are migratory and spend the winter in Africa and southern Asia.

HABITS

Most Muscicapidae species are solitary birds for most of the year although some species forage with other bird species in mixed flocks. Members of this family glean insects off of vegetation and pick them out of the air in fluttering flight.

CONSERVATION

None of the members of this family that occur in North American are threatened with extinction. Elsewhere, the Black-throated Blue Robin of central and southern China is considered to be vulnerable and has only been seen on a handful of occasions.

INTERESTING FACTS

The Northern Wheatears that breed in tundra habitats of northern North America migrate to sub-Saharan Africa for the winter. The other species that breeds in North America, the Bluethroat, also migrates to ancestral wintering grounds in southern Asia instead of migrating to Mexico and Central America.

Author

Artist

Yury Lisyak