Wednesday, November 16, 2011

The Oriental Magpie Robin



Welcome to World Bird Wednesday! Today I'm posting pictures of the Oriental magpie robin/Copsychus saularis, a bird that's seen in our gardens everyday. The glossy black and white feathers and the sweetness of its call makes sure that you notice the bird! Males are black and white but the females are a dull grey. Juveniles resemble the female but they have scaly heads and upper parts. 






The Oriental magpie robins are known for their song and were once popular as cagebirds. This is the national bird of Bangladesh where it is known as the doyel.


Sizing its prey, maybe? Magpie robins usually feed on the ground, foraging for insects. Their diet also includes snails, plant matter and small lizards. They are terrestrial birds and their flight is often near the ground and for short distances.




To see more posts on the wonderful world of birds, head over to 
World Bird Wenesday.

25 comments:

mick said...

Great photos of an interesting bird.

Ginny Hartzler said...

Well, I have heard of a robin, and a magpie, but never a magpie robin!! A new bird for me, I love this because we are birdwatchers. Do you have any regular magpies? Love the last picture, it is amazing!

holdingmoments said...

I've never heard or seen this bird before.
I love that last shot.

Carole M. said...

beautiful photographs; sweet bird

Brian King said...

What a striking bird! Love the black and white! Nice job with the photos!

Unknown said...

Impressive looking fellow!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

theconstantwalker said...

Great images of a lovely bird... many thanks for sharing.

lotusleaf said...

Beautiful shots! I have seen this bird often here, I didn't know its name.

eileeninmd said...

Lovely bird and great photos. Thanks for sharing the bird on WBW!

One said...

The last one is terrific! How did you get that close?

Stephanie said...

You amazed me again! Your passion in identifying and photographing birds and insects show in all your blog posts. Also, thanks for sharing.

Cyren said...

The last picture of the bird looks a little strange. Why is its wings spread out like that? was it hurt?

Arija said...

I love songbirds and robins and your combination of the two makes me wish I lived in Bangladesh.

Cyren said...

Oh thank god she was fine :) Such a poor thing. Those traps are really quite dangerous. I've saved sparrows and sometimes even bats from them in the past. Fortunately we don't have much of a rat problem... lots of squirrels though, and they raid our aviary for the fruits and seeds that the birds do not finish.

Hilke Breder said...

Wonderful photos of an interesting bird! I listened to its songs on xeno-canto.org - beautiful!

Springman said...

Loved the history and background of this excellent bird. It's a new one for me! I felt like dinner looking at that last frame!

Anita Kumar said...

You got some lovely pictures of the bird. For me they aren't as common. Every time I spot a magpie robin in our neighbourhood I get all excited and let everyone know. It's a rare sighting here.

Pat said...

What an interesting post! The Magpie Robin is a lovely bird.

Anonymous said...

Hey great photography...I too have tried to takes snaps of birds before,so i know how difficult a task it is.

Anonymous said...

When I initially commented I clicked the "Notify me when new comments are added" checkbox and now each time a comment is added I
get several e-mails with the same comment. Is there any way you can remove me from that service?
Appreciate it!

Also visit my web blog :: france travel visa for malaysian

Anonymous said...

Hello to every single one, it's really a good for me to visit this web page, it consists of valuable Information.

Here is my site :: vakantiehuis huren

Anonymous said...

I'm extremely pleased to discover this page. I wanted to thank you for ones time for this particularly wonderful read!! I definitely enjoyed every little bit of it and i also have you book marked to look at new information on your website.

my webpage: vakantiehuisje frankrijk ()

Anonymous said...

electronic cigarette reviews, e cigarettes, electronic cigarette, e cigarette, best electronic cigarette, ecig forum

Jibonrahman said...

Dear reader, if you choice: internet outsourcing tips, song download, watching HD Movie, Learn & Earn with SEO from bengali language. Please visit here___ www.jibonrahman44.blogspot.com

Anton said...

Adorable little birds these are. We have them in our garden in Hong Kong. They seem particularly fond of hanging around people and houses. Ours sleep above our door and happily follow us about the garden. Our dogs love chasing them away but they pop up three seconds later in the same spot. They also hang around for dinner time and steal the odd dog pellet. Or they make a high pitched weird baby sound until I throw them one or two. Absolutely charming. Yesterday one sat on a branch about two foot away from my head and sang its head off looking straight at me.

Unfortunately our bird market is full of them in tiny cages piled up on one another which is sad.

I love your blog. I got here because Im trying to find the name of a tiny little bird that in movement and behaviour is exactly like a butterfly. Unfortunately it hangs around in leaf litter in the dark forest floor twitching its wings and fluttering around so you never get a good look. Extraordinary. At first sight it does look just like a butterfly until you realise its a bird, but then you wonder again is it a bird??? Completely bewitching. Hard to see any colour at all but one time I thought it looked distinctly like a wren, but it promptly turned back into a butterfly so.....still searching. Thanks for lovely read.