Outram and Peters coined the binomial name Kittacincla barbouri where the specific epithet was chosen to honour the zoologist Thomas Barbour.

[1][2] The Maratua shama is now placed with 16 other species in the genus Copsychus that was introduced in 1827 by the German naturalist Johann Georg Wagler.

[3] It was formerly considered to be subspecies of the white-crowned shama (Copsychus stricklandii) but is now treated as a separate species based on differences in morphology and mitochondrial DNA sequences.

[5] The female is similar to the male but is smaller and the black feathers are duller and less glossy.

[1] The Maratua shama is highly threatened by the cagebird trade and is possibly extinct in the wild.