Copsychus cebuensis

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Archosauromorpha
Cladus: Crurotarsi
Divisio: Archosauria
Cladus: Avemetatarsalia
Cladus: Ornithodira
Subtaxon: Dinosauromorpha
Cladus: Dinosauriformes
Cladus: Dracohors
Cladus: Dinosauria
Cladus: Saurischia
Cladus: Eusaurischia
Subordo: Theropoda
Cladus: Neotheropoda
Cladus: Averostra
Cladus: Tetanurae
Cladus: Avetheropoda
Cladus: Coelurosauria
Cladus: Tyrannoraptora
Cladus: Maniraptoromorpha
Cladus: Maniraptoriformes
Cladus: Maniraptora
Cladus: Pennaraptora
Cladus: Paraves
Cladus: Eumaniraptora
Cladus: Avialae
Infraclassis: Aves
Cladus: Avebrevicauda
Cladus: Pygostylia
Cladus: Ornithothoraces
Cladus: Ornithuromorpha
Cladus: Carinatae
Parvclassis: Neornithes
Cohors: Neognathae
Cladus: Neoaves
Cladus: Telluraves
Cladus: Australaves
Ordo: Passeriformes
Subordo: Passeri
Infraordo: Passerida
Superfamilia: Muscicapoidea

Familia: Muscicapidae
Genus: Copsychus
Species: Copsychus cebuensis
Name

Copsychus cebuensis (Steere, 1890)
Synonyms

Cittocincla cebuensis (protonym)
Kittacincla cebuensis

References

Steere, J.B. 1890. A list of the birds and mammals collected by the Steere Expedition to the Philippines: with localities, and with brief preliminary descriptions of supposed new species. Ann Arbor, Michigan. Courier Office. 1–30 BHL Reference page. p. 20 BHL

Links

IUCN: Kittacincla cebuensis (Endangered)

Vernacular names
Deutsch: Cebuschama
English: Black Shama
Esperanto: Cebua pigonajtingalo
فارسی: سینه‌سرخ پیسه سیاه
magyar: Cebui sámarigó
Bahasa Indonesia: Murai hitam
Bahasa Melayu: Burung Murai Batu Cebu
Nederlands: Cebu-shamalijster
svenska: svartshama
Tiếng Việt: Chích chòe đen

The Black shama (Copsychus cebuensis) is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is endemic to the island of Cebu, Philippines where it is known locally as "Siloy".

Its natural habitats are tropical moist lowland forest, tropical moist shrubland, and plantations. It has been sighted in several locations all across the island, the most important sites being the Central Cebu Protected Landscape, the forests of Alcoy and Argao, and the shrublands of Casili, Consolacion. It is threatened by habitat loss.
Description and taxonomy

EBird describes the bird as "A medium-sized, long-tailed bird of lowland forest, bamboo, and scrub on Cebu, where it has a preference for valley bottoms. Male is entirely black with a glossy sheen, where the female is sooty gray with a rusty belly. Catches insects on the ground, in the undergrowth, or even on the wing. There are no other species of similar shape and size on Cebu. Song is a series of long, slightly out of tune, often quavering whistles."[2]
Habitat and conservation status
A Black shama featured on the 1992 Philippine stamp.

Its natural habitats are tropical moist lowland primary forest and secondary forests . It is also seen in clearings and plantations as long as there is dense undergrowth.[3] An ongoing radio-tracking study found that the breeding territory in forest-edge habitats was 0.2-0.5 km2.

The IUCN Red List classifies this bird as an endangered species with population estimates of 670 to 3,300 mature individuals with the belief that its population is near the lower estimate of that range. This species' main threat is habitat loss with wholesale clearance of forest habitats as a result of legal and illegal logging, mining and conversion into farmlands through Slash-and-burn and urbanization. Cebu underwent severe deforestation in the 1890s and now just 0.03% or 15 km2 (5.8 sq mi) of forest cover remains. Up until today, the forests of Cebu still receive hunting pressure and deforestation — further reducing what little there is remaining.

This has led to many other species sharing its range to also be endangered. It shares habitat with the Cebu flowerpecker, which is one of the most endangered birds in the world and also other endangered species such as the Cebu brown dove, Cebu hawk-owl and Streak-breasted bulbul. This has led to many local extinctions of species such as Cebu warty pig and possibly Cebu amethyst brown dove and local extinctions of Philippine oriole, Blackish cuckooshrike, Bar-bellied cuckooshrike and Philippine hanging parrot.[4]

The black shama occurs in Alcoy, Argao, Dalaguete, Tabunan and Boljoon protected forests, but actual protection and enforcement is lax.
References

BirdLife International (2016). "Kittacincla cebuensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22710009A94230408. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22710009A94230408.en. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
"Black Shama". Ebird. Archived from the original on 2020-03-30.
Allen, Desmond (2020). Birds of the Philippines. Barcelona: Lynx and Birdlife International Guides. pp. 318–319.
"Rediscovery of four Cebu endemic birds". Archived from the original on 2021-09-10.