Long-tailed Shrike

The Long-tailed Shrike is a striking, predatory songbird combining a pale grey head and mantle, a bold black mask through the eye, rufous-chestnut lower back, rump, and flanks, and a long, graduated black tail. Despite being a passerine, shrikes behave much like miniature raptors, perching prominently and pouncing on prey, which they sometimes impale on thorns or barbed wire — a habit that has earned shrikes the nickname "butcherbird" in some regions.

Several subspecies vary somewhat in the extent of black on the head and the shade of rufous on the body, but the combination of grey head, black mask, rufous flanks, and long tail is consistent across the species' wide range.

Key field marks

• Grey crown and mantle, black mask through the eye
• Chestnut-rufous rump, flanks, and lower back
• Long, narrow, graduated black tail
• Stout, hook-tipped bill typical of shrikes
• Often perches prominently on wires, fences, or bush tops, scanning for prey

Similar species

The Brown Shrike lacks the grey head and rufous rump, being uniformly rufous-brown above without the strong grey/rufous contrast. Other shrike species in the region differ in the extent and pattern of black, grey, and rufous, but the Long-tailed Shrike's combination of features and notably long tail are distinctive.

Long-tailed Shrikes range widely from Central and South Asia through China and Southeast Asia. They favor open habitats with scattered bushes or small trees for hunting perches: scrub, farmland, grassland, and cultivated land, generally avoiding dense forest.

Most populations are resident, though some northern populations show partial migratory movement south in winter.

Voice

A harsh, scratchy series of notes mixed with occasional mimicry of other birds; calls include grating alarm notes given from an exposed perch.

Feeding

Long-tailed Shrikes hunt from a prominent perch, dropping onto large insects, small reptiles, rodents, and occasionally small birds, and are known for impaling surplus prey on thorns or barbed wire, both to store food and to help tear apart prey too large to swallow whole.

Nesting and breeding

The nest is a bulky cup of twigs and grass built in a thorny bush or small tree. Both parents help feed the chicks, and pairs vigorously defend their hunting territory against intruders.