Oriental Magpie-Robin (Copsychus saularis) lives in open woodland gardens across Most of the Indian subcontinent and parts of Southeast Asia. Its conservation status is Least Concern.
Hear the Oriental Magpie-Robin
A real field recording of the Oriental Magpie-Robin, made in the wild.
Recording: Wich’yanan (Jay) Limparungpatthanakij, CC BY, via iNaturalist
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At just 19 centimetres long, the Oriental magpie-robin is a compact bird, but its tail adds drama, it's usually cocked upright while the bird hops on the ground. When the male belts out its song, the tail relaxes to a normal position, showing a clear shift between foraging and display.
The breeding season stretches from March to July in India and from January to June across southeast Asia, during which the male stages a flamboyant courtship: puffing feathers, raising the bill, fanning the tail and strutting. The female builds the nest a week before laying, then lays four or five oval, pale blue-green eggs at 24-hour intervals. She alone incubates them for 8 to 14 days.
Although best known as an insectivore, the Oriental magpie-robin's menu is surprisingly varied. It snaps up insects and other invertebrates, but will also sip flower nectar, hunt tiny geckos, swallow leeches, chase centipedes and even snatch fish from shallow water. This opportunistic diet lets it thrive in both forest leaf-litter and bustling urban gardens, showing how dietary flexibility fuels its success across a range of habitats from rural woodlands to city parks.
In Bangladesh the Oriental magpie-robin is more than a common backyard bird, it is the nation's national bird. Known locally as the doyel, it appears on currency notes and even lends its name to a landmark square, Doel Chattar, in Dhaka. Its ubiquity in towns and villages made it a natural choice for a symbol of everyday life, turning a small songbird into a daily reminder of national identity and cultural pride for millions of people.
Singapore's 23-hectare Maju Forest once teemed with wildlife, recording over 100 species, including the Oriental magpie-robin as one of six birds of conservation significance. Development plans now aim to carve out about 15 hectares for housing, shrinking the forest by two-thirds. The loss of this mature habitat threatens local populations that rely on old trees for nesting, underscoring how urban expansion can erode the very green spaces that support both biodiversity and city dwellers' wellbeing.
Sources
Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.
RangeMost of the Indian subcontinent and parts of Southeast Asia
HabitatOpen woodland gardens
DietInsects and fruits
About the Oriental Magpie-Robin
In the lush undergrowth of Asian forests, the Oriental Magpie-Robin flits with effortless elegance, its sleek black and white plumage a striking counterpoint to the dappled shade. With a flick of its long, rounded tail, it darts between the trees, its bright, inquisitive eyes scanning the leaf litter for hidden morsels, as it sings a melodic song that echoes through the stillness. As it moves, its wings beat in a slow, deliberate rhythm, a testament to its confident, unhurried mastery of its domain.
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