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Brown Shrike

Brown Shrike

Lanius cristatus

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The Brown Shrike is a widespread Asian shrike with a bold black mask and warm brown upperparts. It favours open scrub, watching from the tops of bushes before dropping on prey. Several subspecies breed across temperate Asia and winter in tropical Asia, and it is a rare vagrant to Europe and North America. It is closely related to the Red-backed and Isabelline Shrikes.

Did you know?

  • In winter Brown Shrikes can sing with their bill closed, weaving snatches of other birds' calls into the song.
  • The genus name Lanius means “butcher” in Latin.

Voice

Call

About the species

Identification

About 18–20 cm long. The male has a rufous-brown back, a clear black mask, a broad white supercilium and a white throat; the underparts are buff. The sexes are similar, but the male's mask is darker and the female's breast faintly barred. Told from Red-backed Shrike especially by the broad white supercilium, white throat, buff underparts and heavier bill; male Red-backed Shrike has a greyer crown and pinker underparts.

Family

Laniidae

Size

Small (sparrow)

Colours

brown, black, white, grey

About the habitat

Open scrub, thorny bushland and woodland edges, from the taiga to semi-desert in temperate Asia; in winter similar open habitats, gardens and farmland in tropical Asia.

Diet

Mainly insects, especially beetles, moths and caterpillars; occasionally small birds and lizards. Like other shrikes, it sometimes impales prey on thorns.

Behaviour

Hunts from exposed perches, flying down to seize prey on the ground. Strongly migratory, it returns faithfully to the same wintering sites, setting up territories soon after arrival and giving loud, chattering calls. It nests in trees or bushes.

Sources

Photo: JJ Harrison (https://www.jjharrison.com.au/), CC BY-SA 3.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lanius cristatus - Surin.jpg

Sound: Jayakrishnan U, XC410420, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://xeno-canto.org/410420

Text: Wikipedia (English), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_shrike

See also