The Seychelles magpie-robin (''Copsychus sechellarum'') is a medium-sized endangered bird from the granitic

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, ...

in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...

. This species of

magpie-robin The magpie-robins or shamas (from ''shama'', Bengali and Hindi for ''C. malabaricus'') are medium-sized insectivorous birds (some also eat berries and other fruit) in the genus ''Copsychus''. They were formerly in the thrush family Turdidae, but ...

is approximately in length. With a body mass of in females and in males, this species may stand as the largest remnant species in the diverse

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 Northe ...

with the separation of larger birds such as

cochoa The cochoas (from ''cocho'', Nepali for '' Cochoa purpurea'') are medium-sized frugivorous, insectivorous and molluscivorous birds in the genus ''Cochoa''. Their bright contrasting plumage patterns, sexual dimorphism and feeding habits made thei ...

s to the thrush family. It has a glossy coal-black plumage with a white-colored bar on each wing. It is considered a long-lived species, whose lifespan is over 15 years of age. Its habitat is woodlands, plantations and the vicinity of gardens. Their range on the island of Fregate was limited by the area of open ground with leaf litter. Historically, it is believed to have existed on most of the granitic Seychelles islands. Destruction of habitat and introduced predators (domestic cats and rats) greatly reduced its numbers. By 1970, it was on the brink of extinction, with only 16 individuals remaining, all on

Frégate Island Frégate Island (french: île de Frégate, link=no) is an island in Seychelles. The island is the easternmost of the granitic Inner Islands of the Seychelles (55 km (34 mi) east of Mahé). It is 2.07 square kilometres (0.80 square ...

. Over the next two decades it had managed to stave off extinction, but its population in 1990 was still only 21 individuals. In 1990 BirdLife International began preservation efforts to save the Seychelles magpie-robin. Birds were transferred to

Cousin Most generally, in the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a cousin is a type of familial relationship in which two relatives are two or more familial generations away from their most recent common ancestor. Commonly, ...

in 1994 and to Cousine in 1995.Watson, J ; C. Warman; D. Todd & Victorin Laboudallon (1992) The Seychelles Magpie Robin Copsychus sechellarum: ecology and conservation of an endangered species. Biological Conservation 61:93-106 Further transfers followed to

Aride Island Aride Island is the northernmost granitic island in the Seychelles ( Bird Island is the northernmost Seychelles island overall). A nature reserve, it is leased and managed by the Island Conservation Society of Seychelles. History The name ‘Ari ...

in 2002 and

Denis Island Denis Island is the second northeasternmost island in the Seychelles. It is north of Mahé and lies at the northern edge of the Seychelles bank, along with the nearby Bird Island, which is the northernmost Seychelles island. The coral island w ...

in 2008. Today, there are established populations of Seychelles magpie-robins on all five islands. As of 2012, the total population was 244-248 birds (Frégate- 115), (Cousin- 38), (Cousine- 31), (Aride- 24), (Denis- 36-40) and the IUCN has downlisted its status from Critically Endangered to Endangered. It is printed over the latest 25 Seychelles rupee bank notes, a 2016 series of bank notes all about local birds.

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Photo & Behavioural Characteristics

{{Taxonbar, from=Q280225 Copsychus Birds of Seychelles Birds described in 1865