Seychelles Magpie-Robin

Facts

IUCN ENDANGERED (EN)

Facts about this animal

With a length of 18-20 cm the Seychelles magpie-robins is a fairly large Copsychus species. Males weigh about 77 g, females 65 g. The plumage is glossy black with a broad white patch from the shoulder to the inner greater wing-coverts. The feathers on lores, forehead and throat are erectile. Bill and legs are black.

The food of magpie-robins consists of small and medium-sized invertebrates, including grasshoppers, crickets, earthworms, scorpions and larvae of the critically endangered Frégate Island giant beetle, small vertebrates, like small geckos, skinks or young mice, fruit, and even gousehold scraps.

Breeding occurs all year round with a peak during the rainy season from November to March. Breeding territories are about 3-4.5 ha large. One single pale-blue egg is laid in a nest cup made of dry grass, coconut fibre and small twigs. The chick hatches after an incubation period of 16-23 days and stays in the nest for another 16-22 days.

Seychelles magpie-robins may reach a maximum age of 14 years

Did you know?
that the Seychelles magpie-robin is one of only a few species worldwide that have so far been downlisted from the list of Critically Endangered species as a result of conservation action? The rat eradication and habitat restoration plan in which organisations of the BirdLife Network and zoos participated has been described in detail in issue nr 1 of the WAZA Magazine.

Factsheet
Class	AVES
Order	PASSERIFORMES
Suborder	OSCINES
Family	MUSCICAPIDAE
Name (Scientific)	Copsychus sechellarum
Name (English)	Seychelles Magpie-Robin
Name (French)	Shama des Seychelles
Name (German)	Seychellendajal
Name (Spanish)	Tordo de las Seychelles
CITES Status	Not listed
CMS Status	Not listed

Photo Copyright by
WL

Distribution

Distribution
Range	Seychelles (granitic islands)
Habitat	Open areas under the tree cover of maure coastal forests or in orchards and vegetable gardens
Wild population	178 individuals (2006) (Red List IUCN 2011).
Zoo population	0 reported to ISIS

In the Zoo

How this animal should be transported

For air transport, Container Note 11F of the IATA Live Animals Regulations should be followed.

Find this animal on ZooLex

Photo Copyright by
WL

Why do zoos keep this animal

Zoos do not keep this species but participated in conservation work in the species' original range.

How this animal should be kept

For a pair of magpie-robins, an aviary with of at least 2 m² / 4 m³ is required. It may be advisable to have two aviaries for each pair as it is recommended by some breeders of Copsychus species that the male is removed to another aviary during the non-breeding season. The birds benefit from having the aviaries well planted as it provides privacy and security.

Magpie-robins may be kept in mixed species exhibits with other passerines, e.g. finches.

Magpie robins are highly insectivorous birds, their diet must include a good quality softbill food and varied livefood (cockroaches, crickets, beetles, caterpillars, spiders, mealworms etc). They will also occasionally take hard-boiled egg and grated vegetables.