The white-browed shama (''Copsychus luzoniensis'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

in the family

Muscicapidae The Old World flycatchers are a large family, the Muscicapidae, of small passerine birds restricted to the Old World (Europe, Africa and Asia), with the exception of several vagrants and two species, bluethroat (''Luscinia svecica'') and north ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

found only on the islands of

Luzon Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...

Marinduque Marinduque (; ), officially the Province of Marinduque, is an island province in the Philippines located in Southwestern Tagalog Region or Mimaropa, formerly designated as Region IV-B. Its capital is the municipality of Boac, the most popul ...

and the

Polillo Islands The Polillo Islands is a group of about 27 islands in the Philippine Sea lying about to the east of the Philippine island of Luzon. It is separated from the mainland Luzon Island by the Polillo Strait and forms the northern side of Lamon Bay. ...

. The Visayan shama (''C. superciliaris''), formerly considered a subspecies, was split as a distinct species in 2021.

Description and taxonomy

EBird eBird is an online database of bird observations providing scientists, researchers and amateur naturalists with real-time data about bird distribution and abundance. Originally restricted to sightings from the Western Hemisphere, the project e ...

describes the bird as "A medium-sized, long-tailed bird of lowland and foothill forest. Male has a black head, upperparts and chest, a single white wingbar, a white belly, pale orange sides, and white outer tail feathers. The female has a gray chest and face with a brown cheek, crown, back, and wings. Heard more often than seen. Song is a pleasant and varied whistled melody, often finishing in a low, descending warbling trill. They exhibit

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...

in which females are paler with a gray chest and face with brown head, back and wings.

Subspecies

Three

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

are recognized: * ''C. l. luzoniensis'' - Found on

and

Catanduanes Catanduanes (; ), officially the Province of Catanduanes (), is an island province located in the Bicol Region of Luzon in the Philippines. It is the 12th-largest island in the Philippines, and lies to the east of Camarines Sur, across the M ...

* ''C. l. parvimaculatus'' - Found on the

; darker rump and has lesser extent of white on its tail tip * ''C. l. shemleyi'' - Found on

; darker rump and has greater extent of white on its tail tip These subspecies are poorly differentiated and likely will be lumped in the future.

Ecology and behavior

Presumed to feed on small insects and larvae. Typically found in pairs foraging in the dense and lower foliage. This species is believed to be territorial. Breeding occurs in April and may. Nest is described as cub of grass and dry leaves. Lays 2 pale green eggs with reddish brown spots.

Habitat and conservation status

Found in primary forest, mature secondary forest typically in below 1,000 masl. It is believed to be generally common. This species has been assessed as

Least-concern species A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

as it remains locally common and relatively tolerant to disturbed habitats. This species is still believed to be on the decline due to the extensive habitat clearance. This species' main threat is

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

with wholesale clearance of forest habitats as a result of logging, agricultural conversion and mining activities occurring within the range. This species is found in a few protected areas including

Bataan National Park Bataan National Park is a protected area of the Philippines located in the mountainous interior of Bataan province in the Central Luzon Region. Activities in the park include nature viewing, bird watching, and trekking to its several peaks and w ...

Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park The Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park is the largest protected area of the Philippines covering the northern range of the Sierra Madre mountains of eastern Luzon. The park is located in the eastern part of the province of Isabela in Cagayan ...

Angat Watershed Forest Reserve The Angat Watershed Forest Reserve is a List of protected areas of the Philippines, conservation area that protects the drainage basin in the southern Sierra Madre (Philippines), Sierra Madre range north of Metro Manila in the Philippines where ...

Mount Makiling Mount Makiling (also spelled Maquiling) is an inactive stratovolcano located in the provinces of Laguna and Batangas on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. The mountain rises to an elevation of above mean sea level and is the highest feat ...

Kalbario–Patapat Natural Park The Kalbario–Patapat Natural Park is a protected area in the Philippines, located on the Patapat Mountains in the municipalities of Pagudpud and Adams in northern Ilocos Norte province.

Bicol Natural Park The Bicol Natural Park is a List of protected areas of the Philippines, protected area of the Philippines located in the Bicol Region of southern Luzon. It straddles the mountainous border between the provinces of Camarines Norte and Camarines S ...

and Bulusan Volcano Natural Park but actual protection from deforestation is still lax.

References

white-browed shama Endemic birds of the Philippines Fauna of the Visayas white-browed shama Taxa named by Heinrich von Kittlitz Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN {{Muscicapidae-stub