Long-tailed Shrike (Lanius schach)

Other Names (World)
Long-tailed Shrike, Rufous-backed Shrike

Family
Laniidae (Shrikes)

Size
25 - 28 cm

First Described (Guide)
Linnaeus, 1758

Habitat
Forest edges, plantations, paddyfields, grasslands, cultivated areas.

Range (Guide)

Afghanistan (B), Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China (mainland), India, Indonesia, Iran [Islamic Republic of], Kazakhstan (B), Kyrgyzstan (B), Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines (B), Singapore (B), Taiwan (China), Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste (B) (NB), Turkmenistan, Vietnam.

Vagrant to Israel, Japan, Maldives, Oman, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom.

Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.

Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).

Status LC
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Habits
Usually solitary.

Food
Large invertebrates, small vertebrates.

Voice
Call is a harsh, scratchy 'shak-shak-shak...'. Song is a jumble of scratchy squawks and chirps.

Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (149)...)

Long-tailed Shrike (Lanius schach) [XC746860]
by Ray Tsu \u8bf8\u4ec1 from , Laos (call)

Long-tailed Shrike (Lanius schach) [XC840707]
by Chi-Hsuan Shao from , China (call, flight call)

Subspecies
Closely allied with Grey-backed Shrike (Lanius tephronotus), and formerly treated as conspecific, but differs in morphology. The two are largely sympatric and, although subspecies lahulensis of Grey-backed Shrike (Lanius tephronotus) sometimes considered to represent a hybrid population between them, there is no definite proof of interbreeding. Mainland subspecies tend to intergrade; intermediates between erythronotus and tricolor described as nigriceps.

Other proposed subspecies are formosae (described from Taiwan) and hainanus (from Hainan I), but both are considered inseparable from nominate. The name fuscatus, given to melanistic birds from south-eastern China and Hainan, has no taxonomic significance.

The following 9 subspecies are recognised:

erythronotus (Vigors, 1831) - Breeds south-eastern Kazakhstan, S Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, southern Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan (except south-west) east to northern and north-central India; probably also north-eastern Iran.
caniceps Blyth, 1846 - North-central and peninsular India and N Sri Lanka.
tricolor Hodgson, 1837 - Nepal and eastern India east to Myanmar, southern China (southern Xizang, Yunnan), northern Laos and northern Thailand.
schach Linnaeus, 1758 - Central, southern and south-eastern China (including Hainan), Taiwan and northern Vietnam (Tonkin and Annam).
longicaudatus Ogilvie-Grant, 1902 - Central, south-eastern and S Thailand and southern Laos, possibly also southern Myanmar (Tenasserim).
bentet Horsfield, 1821 - Southern Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java, south-eastern Borneo and Lesser Sunda Is (east to Timor).
nasutus Scopoli, 1786 - Philippines (except Palawan and Sulu Is).
suluensis (Mearns, 1905) - Sulu Archipelago (Jolo), in S Philippines.
stresemanni Mertens, 1923 - Eastern New Guinea (Huon Peninsula and adjacent hinterland, southern slopes of mountains in south-east).

References
See References.

Files:

JPG files for Long-tailed Shrike (Lanius schach) - 10 files

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