The Oriental Magpie Robin (Copsychus saularis) are distinctive black and white birds with a long tail that is held upright as they forage on the ground or perch conspicuously.
Distributed in many parts of tropical South and Southeast Asia, they are common birds in urban gardens as well as forests. They are particularly well known for their songs and were once popular as cagebirds. It is mostly seen close to the ground, hopping along branches or foraging in leaf-litter on the ground with cocked tail.
Males sing loudly from the top of trees or other perch during the breeding season. Females spend more effort on feeding the young than males. Males are quite aggressive in the breeding season and will defend their territory and respond to the singing of intruders and even their reflections. Males spend more time on nest defense. Studies of the bird song show dialects with neighbours varying in their songs. The calls of many other species may be imitated as part of their song. This may indicate that birds disperse and are not philopatric. They appear to use elements of the calls of other birds in their own songs. Females may sing briefly in the presence of male. Apart from their song, they use a range of calls including territorial calls, emergence and roosting calls, threat calls, submissive calls, begging calls and distress calls. The typical mobbing calls is a harsh hissing krshhh.
The Indian name of dhyal or dhayal has led to many confusions. The food of Magpie Robins is mainly insects and other invertebrates. They are known to occasionally take geckos,leeches, centipedes and even fish.
They are often active late at dusk. They sometimes bathe in rainwater collected on the leaves of a tree.
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