Order Passeriformes FamilyLaniidae
Shrikes have hooked beaks similar to those of raptors. This beak structure enables them to catch small animals and insects. Shrikes use a variety of sharp objects, such as cactus spines, hawthorn thorns, and barbed wire barbs, to impale their prey. They either consume their prey later or use it to display their hunting skills. Shrikes are known as “butcher birds” due to their unique and gruesome feeding habits. The Latin name for butchers is Lanius.
Shrikes usually perch upright on the tops of shrubs or other prominent perches to locate their prey and signal their presence to rivals. While their feather color varies, it is typically white, cream, tan, brown, or black. Shrikes are mainly found in Africa, Europe, and Asia and inhabit relatively open habitats. Shrikes are closely related to bushshrikes and helmetshrikes.
1. Genus Corvinella
There are two species in this genus, and both have long tails.
1.1. Magpie Shrike or African Long-tailed Shrike (Corvinella melanoleuca)
Description: Magpie Shrikes have entirely black bodies with a bluish gloss, except for white lower backs, pale rumps, and white scapulars forming a ‘V’ shape. They have exceptionally long graduating tails. Their bills, legs, and feet are black, and their eyes are brown. Both sexes look the same, but females have creamy white flanks. They are alternatively placed as the sole members of the genus Urolestes.
- Length – 34,5-50 cm.
- Weight – 55-97 g.
Habitat: Magpie Shrikes are typically found in Acacia savannah but can also occur in broadleaved woodland in the Lowveld.
Conservation: IUCN has listed Magpie Shrikes as Least Concern (LC).
Distribution: Magpie Shrikes occur in Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
1.2. Yellow-billed Shrike (Corvinella corvina)
Description: Yellow-billed Shrikes are small birds with mottled brown upper bodies, short wings, and long tails. They also have mottled brown underparts. These birds have a distinctive brown eye mask and a bright yellow bill. The males and females are quite similar, but females have maroon patches on their flanks while males have rufous patches. These patches can only be seen when these birds are in flight.
- Length – 30-32 cm.
- Weight – 58-80 g.
Habitat: Yellow-billed Shrikes mostly inhabit acacia trees in open savannah, woodlands, and gardens.
Conservation: IUCN has listed Yellow-billed Shrikes as Least Concern (LC).
Distribution: Yellow-billed Shrikes are found in Africa from Senegal eastward to Uganda and west Kenya.
2. Genus Eurocephalus
This genus has two species, specifically white-crowned shrikes.
2.1. Northern White-crowned Shrike (Eurocephalus rueppelli)
Description: Northern White-crowned Shrikes have dark brown upper bodies with short black tails. Their crowns, necks, chests, and rumps are white. They have black eyelines, which join their black ear coverts, napes, and cheeks. Their flanks and underwing coverts are dull brown. Iris’s dark brown, bill black, legs dark grey or brown. The sexes are alike.
- Length – 19-23 cm.
- Weight – 42-58 g.
Habitat: Northern White-crowned Shrikes are found in dry thornbushes and open acacia woodlands.
Conservation: IUCN has listed Northern White-crowned Shrikes as Least Concern (LC).
Distribution: Northern White-crowned Shrikes occur in East Africa from southeastern South Sudan and Uganda to Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, and Tanzania.
2.2. Southern White-crowned Shrike (Eurocephalus anguitimens)
Description: Southern White-crowned Shrikes have ashy brown upper bodies, napes, and short black tails. Their crowns, necks, and chests are white, while their lower bellies, lower flanks, and vents are ashy brown. They have black eyelines that connect their black ear coverts and cheeks. Their irises are dark brown, their bills are black, and their legs are brown. Both sexes have the same appearance.
- Length – Average 24 cm.
- Weight – 51-70 g.
Habitat: Southern White-crowned Shrikes inhabit dry, open savannas, particularly tall Acacia formations with an open understory. They are also found near large rivers in the riverine bush.
Conservation: IUCN has listed Southern White-crowned Shrikes as Least Concern (LC).
Distribution: Southern White-crowned Shrikes are found in Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, andZimbabwe.
3. Genus Lanius
These are the “true” or “typical” shrikes. The genus name Lanius is derived from the Latin word for the butcher. Some of the African species are known by the name “fiscal.” This term is derived from the Afrikaans name “Fiskaal,” which means “public official, especially hangman.
This is because of the habit of these species hanging their prey on thorns for storage or show. Most of these shrikes have insects as their main prey, but some larger shrikes eat small birds, reptiles, and mammals.
3.1. Gray-backed Fiscal (Lanius excubitoroides)
Description: Gray-backed Fiscals have gray backs, crowns, napes, and mantles. They have extended black masks and black foreheads with white supercilium. The wings of these birds are blackish and have a white patch that can be seen in flight. The underparts and the base of the underside of their tails are white.
Their long tail feathers are black, with narrowly tipped white feathers. The central feather pair is the only exception, with its white basal half. The iris of these birds is dark brown, the bills are black, and their legs are blackish.
Both sexes look alike, but females have patches of chestnut.
- Length – 25-26 cm.
- Weight – 47-63,5 g.
Habitat: Gray-backed Fiscals inhabit thorn-scrub and open acacia, wooded grasslands, cultivated areas, and gardens.
Conservation: IUCN has listed Gray-backed Fiscals as Least Concern (LC).
Distribution: Gray-backed Fiscals are found in several African countries, including Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.
3.2. Long-tailed Fiscal (Lanius cabanisi)
Description: Long-tailed Fiscals have blackish brown upper bodies, mantles, and upper back medium grey, becoming pale grey on lower backs. They have long black tails with upper tail coverts whitish. Their upper wings are dark brown with conspicuous white patches on their primaries. Their underbodies, rumps, and vents are white. Females are very similar but have dark, rufous patches on their flanks.
- Length – 26-30 cm.
- Weight – 69-80 g.
Similar to the Northern Fiscal. Northern Fiscals have white on scapulars, but Long-tailed Fiscals have no white on the upperparts.
Habitat: Long-tailed Fiscals inhabit open, almost treeless savannas in shrubby open woodlands and cultivated patches.
Conservation: IUCN has listed Long-tailed Fiscals as Least Concern (LC).
Distribution: Long-tailed Fiscals are found in southern Somalia, southern and south-eastern Kenya, and northern and eastern Tanzania.
3.3. Northern Fiscal (Lanius humeralis)
Description: Northern Fiscals have black upper bodies, heads, napes, and long black graduated tails with the outermost feather pair almost completely white. They have a distinctive white “V” on their backs. Their chins, breasts, bellies, and underbodies are whitish. They have black eyes, bills, and legs. The sexes are alike except for the rufous lower flanks of the females.
Common Fiscals are a bird species formed by combining Northern Fiscals and Southern Fiscals. These birds differ in color intensity, presence of white supercilium, breast freckling, sexual dimorphism, and amount of white in tails. Their DNA can also differentiate them.
- Length – 21-23 cm.
- Weight – 25-58 g.
Habitat: Northern Fiscals can be found in various habitats, ranging from open areas with short grass and fences for perching to acacia thornveld or woodlands. They also inhabit semi-deserts and coastal thickets but avoid very dense habitats.
Conservation: IUCN has listed Northern Fiscals as Least Concern (LC).
Distribution: Northern Fiscal birds are found in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, and Mozambique.
3.4. São Tomé Fiscal also Newton’s Fiscal (Lanius newtoni)
Description: São Tomé Fiscals are birds that have black, glossy upper bodies, heads, and tails. Their black tails are long, with three outer pairs of rectrices edged white towards the tips. Their underbodies and necks are whitish with a yellowish tinge. Their bills are black, and their legs are dark brown or black.
- Length – 19-21 cm.
- Weight – Average 22,5 g.
Habitat: São Tomé Fiscals inhabit undisturbed subtropical or tropical lowland montane forests with gullies and riversides.
Conservation: The São Tomé Fiscal is listed as Critically Endangered (CR) by the IUCN due to the loss and destruction of its natural habitat. Clearing large areas of lowland and mid-altitude forests for cocoa and coffee plantations has caused this. Additionally, the increasing population and offshore oil exploitation have also contributed to the destruction of the forest, posing further threats to the survival of this species.
Distribution: São Tomé Fiscals are endemic to the Island of São Tomé, in Gulf of Guinea.
3.5. Somali Fiscal (Lanius somalicus)
Description: Somali Fiscals have black heads, napes, and bills. Their wings are black with white secondaries. Their underbodies are white, and their long tails are black with white undertails. Their mantles are gray.
- Length – 20-21 cm.
- Weight – 48-58 g.
Similar to the Taita Fiscal. Somali Fiscals have white-tipped secondaries; Taiti Fiscals do not.
Habitat: Somali Fiscals occur in subtropical and subtropical dry, arid, and sparsely vegetated habitats. They inhabit semi-desert savanna with sandy or stony, almost pure desert.
Conservation: IUCN has listed Somali Fiscals as Least Concern (LC).
Distribution: Somali Fiscals inhabit East Africa, with ranges including Somalia, southern Djibouti, eastern and southern Ethiopia, southeastern South Sudan, and northern Kenya.
3.6. Southern Fiscal (Lanius collaris)
Description: Southern Fiscals have black upper bodies, heads, napes, and long black graduated tails with the outermost feather pair almost completely white. They have a distinctive white “V” on their backs formed by their scapulars. Their chins, breasts, bellies, and underbodies are whitish. They have black eyes, bills, and legs. The sexes are alike except for the rufous lower flanks of the females.
Common Fiscals are a bird species formed by combining Southern Fiscals and Northern Fiscals. These birds differ in color intensity, presence of white supercilium, breast freckling, sexual dimorphism, and amount of white in tails. Their DNA can also differentiate them.
- Length – 21-23 cm.
- Weight – 25-58 g.
Habitat: Southern Fiscals can be found in various habitats, from open areas with short grass to woodlands and semi-deserts. They avoid very dense habitats.
Conservation: IUCN has listed Southern Fiscals as Least Concern (LC).
Distribution: Southern Fiscals occur in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, and Mozambique.
3.7. Taita Fiscal (Lanius dorsalis)
Description: Taita Fiscals have black heads, napes, bills, eyes, legs, and wings. Their backs are gray with a characteristic white ‘V,’ and their rumps and lower bodies are white. They have long black tails with white outer feathers.
- Length – Average 21 cm.
- Weight – 45,5 -55 g.
Similar to Somali Fiscals. Taita Fiscals have white-tipped secondaries; Taiti Fiscals do not.
Habitat: Taita Fiscals inhabit dry open thornbush, acacia, and other dry open woodlands. They avoid highlands, subhumid and humid areas, and extremely arid and sparsely vegetated habitats.
Conservation: IUCN has listed Taita Fiscals as Least Concern (LC).
Distribution: Somali Fiscals are found in most of Kenya, southern and western Somalia, southern Ethiopia, southeastern South Sudan, northeastern Uganda, and northern Tanzania.
3.8. Uhehe Fiscal (Lanius (collaris) marwitzi)
Description: Uhehe Fiscals are small birds measuring on average 21 cm. They have dull black upper bodies with wide white supercilium and scapulars, dark grey backs, rumps, and upper tail coverts, long black tails with white-spotted feathers, black wings with small white patches, and whitish underparts, sometimes washed with buff.
Habitat: Uhehe Fiscals inhabit dry open thornbush, acacia, and other dry open woodlands. They avoid highlands, subhumid and humid areas, and extremely arid and sparsely vegetated habitats.
Distribution: Uhehe Fiscals areendemicto the uplands of southern and easternTanzania.
3.9. Bay-backed Shrike (Lanius vittatus)
Description: Bay-backed Shrikes have black foreheads, masks, gray crowns, and napes. Their upper bodies are maroon brown with black wings that feature a small white wing patch. Their underbodies are whitish with buff flanks, and their bills and legs are dark grey. Females resemble males but can be identified by their narrower frontal bands.
- Length – 17-19 cm.
- Weight – 18-26 g.
Habitat: Bay-backed Shrikes inhabit various open, shrubland, rocky, and cultivated areas.
Conservation: IUCN has listed Bay-backed Shrikes as Least Concern (LC).
Distribution: Bay-backed Shrikes are found in Afghanistan, India, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, and, recently, Sri Lanka.
3.10. Brown Shrike (Lanius cristatus)
Description: Brown Shrikes have brown upper bodies, broad white supercilium, black masks, and foreheads; their lower bodies are light brown with buff flanks. Their undertail coverts are brownish gray, their irises are brown, and their legs are blackish. Sexes are alike, but females’ supercilium are creamy-tinged, and masks are less distinctive in local areas.
- Length – 17-20 cm.
- Weight – 27-34 g.
Habitat: Brown Shrikes inhabit open scrublands, grasslands with small trees, and urban parks.
Conservation: IUCN has listed Brown Shrikes as Least Concern (LC).
Distribution: Brown Shrikes range from southern Siberia to northern India and China. During winter, they can be seen in Japan and South Korea.
3.11. Bull-headed Shrike (Lanius bucephalus)
Description: Bull-headed Shrikes have brown crowns with a black mask, white supercilium, and black bills. Their upper bodies are gray-brown with black wings that have white patches. Their underparts are whitish with fine barring. Their flanks are rufous. Females are similar but have brown masks, and their coloring is duller.
- Length – 19-20 cm.
- Weight – 35-46 g.
Habitat: Bull-headed Shrikes inhabit many open habitats, such as farmlands, suburban parks, areas with scattered shrubs, hedgerows, and forest edges. Some individuals winter in woodlands.
Conservation: IUCN has listed Bull-headed Shrikes as Least Concern (LC).
Distribution: Bull-headed Shrikes inhabit northern Asia from Mongolia to Siberia while breeding and in South Asia, including Myanmar and the Malay Peninsula, during winter, with a few reaching China.
3.12. Burmese Shrike (Lanius collurioides)
Description: Burmese Shrikes have black masks, facial markings, gray crowns, napes, upper mantles, and reddish-brown upper bodies. Their wings are black with a white wing patch. Their underparts are white with buff flanks, and their tails are black with outer white feathers. They have dark reddish-brown irises, grey-brown bills with dark tips, and greyish-black legs. Both sexes look similar, but females are duller in color.
- Length – 19-21 cm.
- Weight – Average 26 g.
Habitat: Burmese Shrikes can be found in clearings and edges of secondary broadleaf subtropical or tropical moist forests, roadside vegetation, and gardens.
Conservation: IUCN has listed Burmese Shrikes as Least Concern (LC).
Distribution: Burmese Shrikes occur in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, andVietnam.
3.13. Chinese Gray Shrike (Lanius sphenocercus)
Description: Chinese Gray Shrikes are relatively large shrikes with pale gray upper bodies and strong white supercilium, black masks, and wings that have white patches. Their underbodies are white. Their tails are long and black with white outer edges. The bills and legs of the Chinese Gray Shrikes are black. Sexes are alike, but females are duller, with slight barring on their breasts.
- Length – 29-31 cm.
- Weight – 87.2-100 g.
Habitat: Chinese Gray Shrikes prefer broad river valleys, pastures, and cultivated areas with bushes and small clusters of trees. They are found in open steppes, semi-deserts, and foothills in China. During the non-breeding season in South Korea, they are found in or near rice fields.
Conservation: IUCN has listed Chinese Gray Shrikes as Least Concern (LC).
Distribution: Chinese Gray Shrikes occur in Eastern Mongolia, east to southeastern Russia, northeastern and north-central China, and the northern and central Korean Peninsula. Their non-breeding range is mainly in eastern and southeast China and Korea.
3.14. Emin’s Shrike (Lanius gubernator)
Description: Emin’s Shrikes are the smallest of the genus Lanius. They have pale gray crowns, hindneck, and upper mantles, transitioning into bright chestnut mantles, backs, scapulars, rumps, and upper tail coverts. They have black masks with thin white supercilium. Their lower breasts, bellies, and flanks are washed pale rufous to reddish-buff. Their irises are dark brown, their bills are black, and their legs are greyish-black. Their tails are dark brown with light rufous wash, white outer feathers, and white below. The sexes are similar, but females are duller in color compared to males.
- Length – 14-16 cm.
- Weight – Average 23,5 g.
Habitat: Emin’s Shrikes inhabit mainly dry grass savanna with bushes, woodland, and forest clearings. They are also found in abandoned cultivated fields.
Conservation: IUCN has listed Emin’s Chinese Gray Shrikes as Least Concern (LC).
Distribution: Emin’s Shrikes range extends across Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, South Sudan, and Uganda.
3.15. Gray-backed Shrike (Lanius tephronotus)
Description: Gray-backed Shrikes have long chestnut-brown tails with buffish tips and, outermost
pair of rectrices, light brown. They have gray upper bodies with black masks, whitish cheeks, and necks. Their breast sides and flanks are rufous and undertail brownish-grey. Irises are dark brown, bills black, and legs dull black. Sexes are similar.
- Length – 21-23 cm.
- Weight – 39-54 g.
Habitat: Gray-backed Shrikes breed at high elevations in forest clearings, plateau plains, and mountain meadows. Post-breeding, they can be found in coniferous stands, forest clearings, higher elevations pastures, and extensive agricultural valleys near human settlements. They are found in habitats on non-breeding grounds, including gardens and abandoned cultivation.
Conservation: IUCN has listed Gray-backed Shrikes as Least Concern (LC).
Distribution: Gray-backed Shrikes breeding from NorthKashmireast to central India, and southwest China. Their distribution also extends from Nepal east to northeast India and center and south China.
Gray-backed Shrikes non-breeding stretches south to Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, and Indochina.
3.16. Gray-capped Shrike or Mountain Shrike (Lanius validirostris)
Distribution: Gray-capped Shrikes’ upper bodies are gray with darker wings and tails. Their underparts are whitish with orange sides. They have black masks, bills, legs, and dark brown irises. Sexes are alike, but females are slightly smaller.
- Length – 20-22,5 cm.
- Weight – 34-44,9 g.
Habitat: Gray-capped Shrikes inhabit edges of montane oak and pine forests, open woodlands, and grasslands with shrubs.
Conservation: IUCN has listed Gray-capped Shrikes as Least Concern (LC).
Distribution: Gray-capped shrikes are endemic to the Philippines.
3.17. Isabelline Shrike or Rufous-tailed Shrike (Lanius isabellinus)
Description: Male Isabelline Shrikes have pale greyish crowns, tinged isabelline on the forehead, and white supercilium. Their throats are whitish, and their underbodies are sandy cream to isabelline. Their upper bodies are sandy gray to upper rumps, rufous lower rumps, and have long reddish-brown tails.
Their upper wings are blackish, and their feathers’ edges are pale sandy. Their bills are dark brown, their irises are brown, and their legs are grey-black. The females resemble males but are duller, with brown upperparts and rufous-brown upper tails.
- Length – 16,5-18 cm.
- Weight – 26-33,5 g.
Habitat: Isabelline Shrikes breed in tamarisk thickets in river valleys, patches of scrub in Steppes, and open cultivated countries, preferably with thorn bushes.
They can be found in the open cultivated countries with thorn bushes and dry lowlands during the non-breeding season.
Conservation: IUCN has listed Isabelline Shrikes as Least Concern (LC).
Distribution: Isabelline Shrikes occur extensively between theCaspian Seaand north and central China southeast to theQaidam Basin. They overwinter in Africa and Arabia.
3.18. Lesser Gray Shrike (Lanius minor)
Description: Lesser Gray Shrikes have gray crowns, napes, and upper bodies. They have wide black masks, foreheads, and upper wings. Their cheeks and underbodies are white, with bellies suffused with pink. Their tails are black with white outer tips. Irises are brown, bills and legs blackish. Females have similar plumage but with dark grey heads, brownish-black ear coverts, brownish-grey upperparts, and less pink underparts than males.
- Length – 19-23 cm.
- Weight – 41-61,6 g.
Habitats: Lesser Gray Shrikes inhabit open countryside, edges of cultivated lands, gardens, woodlands, and roadside trees during summer. During winter, they inhabit semi-arid savanna, shrubland, and thornveld.
Conservation: IUCN has listed Lesser Gray Shrikes as Least Concern (LC).
Distribution: Lesser Gray Shrikes breed in South and Central Europe and western Asia and migrate to winter in southern Africa.
3.19. Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus)
Description: Loggerhead Shrikes have large heads compared to most shrikes. Their upper bodies are gray with black wings and a distinctive white mark on their primaries. Their underbodies are white to pale gray, and they have black tails with white undertails. They also have a wide black mask, black hooked bills, and legs. While the sexes are similar, females are smaller than males and have browner primaries.
- Length – 20-23 cm.
- Weight – 34-51 g.
- Wingspan – 27,9-32 cm.
Similar to:
- The Northern Mockingbirds. Loggerhead Shrikes have black eye lines, whereas the Northern Mockingbird has no eye lines.
- The Northern Shrike. Loggerhead Shrikes have wider eye bands than the Northern Shrike.
Habitat: Loggerhead Shrikes inhabit open countries, woodlands, and grasslands with elevated perches. They are also found in pastures with fence rows. They tend to prefer red cedar and hawthorn trees for nesting.
Conservation: The IUCN has classified Lesser Gray Shrikes as Near Threatened (NT) for several reasons, including habitat fragmentation and loss, especially due to conversion to agricultural land and extreme local weather caused by climate change. Shrikes are also preyed upon by various species, including cats, raccoons, crows, magpies, and several raptors.
Distribution: Loggerhead Shrikes are widespread breeders across much of the USA and Mexico, extending into southern Canada. Northern populations are migratory, whereas those south of the ranges are generally resident.
3.20. Long-tailed Shrike (Lanius schach)
Description: Long-tailed Shrikes have black masks and foreheads. Their crowns and mantles are gray. Their upper bodies are rufous with black-wing primaries. Their throats are white and strongly tinged with rufous on the sides of their breasts and thighs, and they have rufous rumps.
Their tails are black, their irises dark brown, their bills are black, paler towards the base of the lower mandibles, and their legs are grayish-black. The sexes are alike, but females’ legs are browner than the males.
- Length – 20-25 cm.
- Weight – 50-53 g.
Habitat: Long-tailed Shrikes inhabit mainly scrub and open areas, light woodland steppe, semi-desert, and grasslands with scattered bush. They also are found in cultivated areas, gardens, and parks.
Conservation: IUCN has listed Long-tailed Shrikes as Least Concern (LC).
Distribution: Long-tailed Shrikes occur across Asia from Kazakhstan to New Guinea.
3.21. MacKinnon’s Shrike (Lanius mackinnoni)
Description: MacKinnon’s Shrikes have sooty-gray crowns, napes, and mantles. They have a black mask with a white supercilium. Their wings are black with white scapulars, and their tails are black with white feather tips. Their lower bodies are whitish-washed buff, and their rumps and upper tail coverts are light gray. Females are similar to males but have a conspicuous patch of chestnut on their flanks.
- Length – 20-21 cm.
- Weight – 35-37 g.
Habitat: MacKinnon’s Shrikes inhabit savannas, forest edges, clearings, and secondary growth. They are also found in open plantations and cultivations.
Conservation: IUCN has listed MacKinnon’s Shrikes as Least Concern (LC).
Distribution: MacKinnon’s Shrikes have a disjunct range, spanning Southeast Nigeria and Southwest Cameroon to North DR Congo and West Kenya to North Tanzania.
3.22. Masked Shrike (Lanius nubicus)
Description: Masked Shrikes have white foreheads that extend to a wide white supercilium. Their crowns, napes, ear coverts, upper bodies, and tails are glossy black with white outer rectrices. Their undertails are white. They have white patches on their shoulders and wings. Their neck, sides, and underbodies are white with rufous on breasts and flanks. Females are duller, with brownish-black upper bodies and more grayish tones to their underbodies.
- Length – 17-18,5 cm.
- Weight – 14,5-30 g.
Habitats: Masked Shrikes prefer open woodlands with bushes and large isolated trees during their breeding season. They are also found in orchards and other cultivated lands.
Their non-breeding habitats are open country with thorny bushes, large acacia trees, and eucalyptus trees.
Conservation: IUCN has listed Masked Shrikes as Least Concern (LC).
Distribution: Masked Shrikes breed in theBalkansandWestern Asia: southernBulgaria, easternRepublic of North Macedonia, northeastGreeceand some Greek islands,Turkey,Cyprus, and fromSyriasouth toIsrael.
They winter in sub-Saharan Africa and southwestern Arabia.
3.23. Northern Shrike (Lanius excubitor)
Description: Northern Shrikes have pale gray coloring on the tops of their heads, napes, and upper bodies to lower backs. Their rumps and upper tail-coverts are often slightly paler and have white scapulars.
The upper wings are black with prominent white patches across the base of the primaries and usually another narrower white patch at the base of the secondaries. They have black masks, bills, and blackish feet, along with a thin white supercilium.
Females are alike but have less white plumage, and males have paler heads, longer wings, and tails.
- Length – 24-25 cm.
- Weight – 48-81 g.
Similar to:
- Loggerhead Shrikes. Loggerhead Shrikes have wider eye bands than Northern Shrikes.
- Northern Mockingbirds. Northern Shrikes have black eye-lines; Northern Mockingbirds have no eye-lines.
Habitat: Northern Shrikes breed in subarctic and temperate climates in open areas with trees, bushes, fence posts, and power lines. Sparse and low vegetation is important as isolated trees, small groves, bushes, pylons, electric wires, and fences provide suitable perches.
Northern Shrikes utilize habitats in non-breeding areas similar to breeding areas, with meadows being more important outside the breeding season. Wintering birds also roost for the night in large willows isolated from other shrubs and trees.
Conservation: IUCN has listed Northern Shrikes as Least Concern (LC).
Distribution: Northern Shrikes occur in many countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa.
3.24. Red-backed Shrike (Lanius collurio)
Description: Red-backed Shrikes have reddish-brown upper bodies with gray crowns, napes, and hind necks. They have black masks and foreheads. Their chins and throats are white, and the rest of their underbodies are salmon pink. Their tails are black with white undertail coverts. Females are similar to males but are paler and duller, with brown masks and white supercilium.
- Length – 17-19 cm.
- Weight – 22,5-34 g.
Habitat: Red-backed Shrikes breed in temperate and Mediterranean climates requiring warm, dry, sunny, and level or sloping terrain with low trees and shrubs. They are also found in agricultural areas, gardens, and hedgerows along railways and roadsides.
Conservation: IUCN has listed Red-backed Shrikes as Least Concern (LC).
Distribution: Red-backed Shrikes are widespread from Europe, east to Siberia, south to northern Iberia, Sardinia, southern Italy, Sicily, Balkans, Asia Minor, Levant, Caucasus, and northeastern Iran—winters in south and eastern Africa.
3.25. Red-tailed Shrike or Turkestan Shrike (Lanius phoenicuroides)
Description: Red-tailed Shrikes have sandy upper bodies. Their crowns, napes, mantles, backs, and upper tails are rufous. They have black masks with wide white supercilium. Their cheeks, necks, and lower bodies are white. Their wings have blackish-brown flight feathers, blackish-brown bills, brown irises, and dark gray feet. Females are similar to males’ crowns, lighter and supercilium sandy, with narrow black barring on their underbodies and cheeks.
- Length – 16,5-18 cm.
- Weight – 25-38 g.
Habitats. Red-tailed Shrikes inhabit dry, open areas with low shrubby cover.
Conservation: IUCN has listed Red-tailed Shrikes as Least Concern (LC).
Distribution: Red-tailed Shrikes breed in central and eastern Kazakhstan, south to Turkmenistan, eastern Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and extreme northwestern China. Migration occurs to non-breeding grounds in the Middle East, east, and northeast Africa, with some in western Africa.
3.26. Southern Grey Shrike (Lanius meridionalis)
Description: Southern Grey Shrikes have dark gray crowns and upper bodies that become lighter towards their rumps and upper tail coverts. Their tails are black with white edges. They have a black mask with a white supercilium, brown irises, black bills, and legs. Their wings are black, their tertials tipped white, and a small white patch is at the base of their primaries. Their underbodies are pale pinkish gray with white undertail coverts. Sexes are alike, but females are duller and have less white plumage.
- Length – 24-25 cm.
- Weight – 48-93 g.
Habitat: Southern Grey Shrikes inhabit open areas with occasional thorny bushes in dry, warm lowlands. They are also found in cereal-growing lands with hedgerows, vineyards, orchards, pastures, and evergreen oaks.
Conservation: The IUCN has classified Southern Grey Shrikes as Endangered (EN) for several reasons. These include agricultural intensification, which involves increased use of pesticides and herbicides, reducing prey availability. Additionally, removing hedges and trees has reduced the number of available hunting perches and nest sites, decreasing food availability for the shrikes.
Distribution: Southern Grey Shrikes can be found in the Iberian Peninsula and southern France.
3.27. Souza’s Shrike (Lanius souzae)
Description: Souza’s Shrikes crowns, napes, and mantles are pale gray, their upper bodies are brownish, and they have brown wings and tails. They do have a noticeable white slash across their shoulders. Their throats and underbodies are mostly whitish-buff. Their irises are brown, bills black, and legs dark gray. Females are similar to males but smaller, duller, and have distinctive tawny flanks.
- Length – 17-18 cm.
- Weight – 21-30 g.
Habitat: Souza’s Shrikes live in woodlands, especially where the forest thins at the edges of wooded gardens. They are commonly found in light miombo woodland with patches of short grass, mixed broadleaf woodland, and more open savanna.
Conservation: IUCN has listed Souza’s Shrikes as Least Concern (LC).
Distribution: Souza’s Shrikes are found in Central Africa.
3.28. Tiger Shrike (Lanius tigrinus)
Description: Tiger Shrikes have light gray crowns to napes in breeding males, while non-breeding males have brown crowns. They have black masks, frontal bands, lores, and ear coverts. Their upper bodies, shoulders, and rumps are reddish-brown with narrow black bars that create a tiger-like pattern.
The underbodies of Tiger Shrikes are white with faint, narrow black barring on their flanks. Their irises are dark brown, their bills are blue-black, and their legs are greyish-black. Females are similar to males but duller, with more prominently barred upper bodies.
- Length – 17-18,5 cm.
- Weight – 27-29 g.
Habitat: Tiger Shrikes are typically found in lowland forests, forest edges, thickets, cultivated wooded areas, mangroves, orchards, and occasionally suburban parks.
Conservation: IUCN has listed Tiger Shrikes as Least Concern (LC).
Distribution: Tiger Shrikes breed in temperate regions of eastern Asia and migrate southward to winter in Southeast Asia.
3.29. Woodchat Shrike (Lanius senator)
Description: Woodchat Shrikes have chestnut crowns, napes, upper mantles, black masks, foreheads, and tails. They have dark brown wings with prominent white patches, white throats and necks, and creamy-buff underbodies. Their irises are dark brown, their bills are black, and their legs are blackish. Females are similar but duller.
- Length – 18-19 cm.
- Weight – 21-59 g.
Habitat: Woodchat Shrikes are typically found in semi-open areas with bushes and well-spaced trees, such as old orchards, olive groves, gardens, parks, or hedgerows with large thorny bushes. They also occur in cultivated countries with trees.
Conservation: The IUCN has classified Woodchat Shrikes as Near Threatened (NT) for several reasons. This includes loss and degradation due to agricultural intensification, afforestation, and large fires. The use of herbicides and insecticides is also a threat. Additionally, drought in the Sahel and changes to farming practices in its wintering grounds may lead to long-term population declines.
Distribution: The Woodchat Shrike’s breeding range extends from Portugal to Greece, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, the Arabian Peninsula, and Mauritania to Libya. They overwinter in tropical central Africa, from Senegal to Sudan, Ethiopia, and southwards to Gabon.
Conclusion
Despite being small, shrikes play a significant role in their ecosystem by controlling insect populations and displaying complex behaviors that captivate birdwatchers and scientists. Their unusual habit of skewering their prey on thorns reminds us of the diverse and surprising strategies different species use to survive and thrive in nature.
