Long-tailed shrike

{{Short description|Species of bird}} {{For|the African long-tailed shrike|Magpie shrike}} {{Speciesbox | name = Long-tailed shrike | image = Long-tailed Shrilke 0A2A3080.jpg | image_caption = Long tailed shrike in Sumatra, Indonesia | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name=iucn>{{cite iucn |title=''Lanius schach'' |author=BirdLife International |date=2016 |article-number=e.T22705029A93997036 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22705029A93997036.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref> | genus = Lanius | species = schach | authority = Linnaeus, 1758 | subdivision_ranks = Subspecies | subdivision = *''L. s. stresemanni'' Mertens, 1923 *''L. s. bentet'' Horsfield, 1822 *''L. s. suluensis'' (Mearns, 1905) *''L. s. nasutus'' Scopoli, 1780 *''L. s. schach'' Linnaeus, 1758 *''L. s. longicaudatus'' Ogilvie-Grant, 1902 *''L. s. tricolor'' Hodgson, 1837 *''L. s. caniceps'' Blyth, 1846 *''L. s. erythronotus'' (Vigors, 1831) | range_map = LaniusSchachMap.svg | range_map_caption = Rough distribution of key forms }} The '''long-tailed shrike''' or '''rufous-backed shrike''' ('''''Lanius schach''''') is a member of the bird family Laniidae, the shrikes. They are found widely distributed across Asia and there are variations in plumage across the range. The species ranges across much of Asia, both on the mainland and the eastern archipelagos. The eastern or Himalayan subspecies, ''L. s. tricolor'', is sometimes called the '''black-headed shrike'''. Although there are considerable differences in plumage among the subspecies, they all have a long and narrow black tail, have a black mask and forehead, rufous rump and flanks and a small white patch on the shoulder. It is considered to form a superspecies with the grey-backed shrike (''Lanius tephronotus'') which breeds on the Tibetan Plateau.

==Taxonomy== The long-tailed shrike was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae'' under the binomial name ''Lanius schach''. Linnaeus cited the description that the Swedish explorer Pehr Osbeck had included in the account of his stay in China.<ref>{{cite book |last=Linnaeus |first=C. |author-link=Carl Linnaeus |year=1758 |title=Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis |volume=1 |edition=Tenth |page=94 |publisher=Laurentii Salvii |location=Holmiae (Stockholm) |language=Latin | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727001 }}</ref><ref>{{ cite book | last=Osbeck | first=Pehr | author-link=Pehr Osbeck |date=1757 |title=Dagbok öfwer en Ostindisk resa åren 1750, 1751, 1752: Med anmårkningar uti naturkunnigheten, fråmmande folkslags språk |language=Swedish |location=Stockholm |publisher=Ludv. Grefing |page=227 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/49667059}}</ref> The type locality is the Canton area of China.<ref name=mayr>{{cite book |editor1-last=Mayr |editor1-first=E. |editor1-link=Ernst Mayr |editor2-last=Greenway |editor2-first=J.C. Jr |year=1960 |title=Check-List of Birds of the World |volume=9 |publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts |pages=349–351 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14481024}}</ref> The genus name, ''Lanius'', is derived from the Latin word for "butcher", and some shrikes are also known as "butcher birds" because of their feeding habits. The specific ''schach'' is an onomatopoeic name based on the call.<ref name=job>{{cite book |last=Jobling |first=J.A. |year=2010 |title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names |url=https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling |publisher=Christopher Helm |location=London |isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 |pages=219, 349}}</ref> The common English name "shrike" is from Old English ''scríc'', "shriek", referring to the shrill call.<ref name=OED>{{Cite OED |Shrike}}</ref>

Nine subspecies are recognised:<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill |editor1-first=F. | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) |editor2-last=Donsker |editor2-first=D. |editor3-last=Rasmussen |editor3-first=P. |editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen |date=2022 |title=Shrikes, vireos, shrike-babblers |work=IOC World Bird List Version 12.1 |url=http://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/shrikes/ |publisher=International Ornithologists' Union |access-date=3 March 2022}}</ref>

* ''L. s. erythronotus'' (Vigors, 1831) – south Kazakhstan to northeast Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and north-central India * ''L. s. caniceps'' Blyth, 1846 – west, central, south India and Sri Lanka * ''L. s. tricolor'' Hodgson, 1837 – Nepal and east India through Myanmar and south China to north Laos and north Thailand * ''L. s. schach'' Linnaeus, 1758 – central, southeast China to north Vietnam * ''L. s. longicaudatus'' Ogilvie-Grant, 1902 – central, southeast Thailand and south Laos * ''L. s. bentet'' Horsfield, 1821 – Malay Peninsula, Greater and Lesser Sundas and Borneo * ''L. s. nasutus'' Scopoli, 1786 – Philippines (except Palawan group and Sulu Archipelago) * ''L. s. suluensis'' (Mearns, 1905) – Sulu Archipelago (south Philippines) * ''L. s. stresemanni'' Mertens, 1923 – montane east New Guinea

Stuart Baker in the second edition of ''The Fauna of British India'' considered ''Lanius schach'', ''Lanius tephronotus'' and ''Lanius tricolor'' as three species. He considered ''nigriceps'' as synonymous with ''tricolor'' and included ''erythronotus'' as a race of ''schach''. Other treatments were proposed by Hugh Whistler and N B Kinnear where ''tephronotus'' was considered a subspecies of ''schach'' and ''nigriceps'' and ''nasutus'' grouped together. Another treatment considered ''tricolor'' as a subspecies of ''L. tephronotus''.<ref>{{cite journal| author=Biswas, B. |year=1962| title=Further notes on the shrikes ''Lanius tephronotus'' and ''Lanius schach'' |journal=Ibis |volume=104 |issue=1 |pages=112–115| doi=10.1111/j.1474-919X.1962.tb08635.x}}</ref> It was subsequently however noted that ''tephronotus'' and ''schach'' co-occurred in the Kumaon region and so the two were confirmed as distinct species. Molecular distances also indicate that they are distant enough.<ref name=acta2007>{{cite journal|author=Zhang, W. |author2=Lei, F.-M. |author3=Liang, G. |author4=Yin, Z.-H. |author5=Zhao, H.-F. |author6=Wang, H. |author7=Krištín, A. |year=2007| title= Taxonomic status of eight Asian shrike species (''Lanius''): phylogenetic analysis based on Cyt ''b'' and CoI gene sequences| journal=Acta Ornithologica |volume=42 |issue=2 |pages=173–180 |doi=10.3161/068.042.0212 |doi-access=free}}</ref> The ''erythronotus'' group have a grey head which continues into the back with a gradual suffusion of rufous. The westernmost population from Transcaspia named by Sergei Buturlin as ''jaxartensis'' and said to be larger, is not considered valid.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=American Museum Novitates|issue=1752|year=1955 |title=Systematic Notes on Palearctic Birds. No. 17 Laniidae |last=Vaurie|first=C. |pages=1–19 |hdl=2246/3647}}</ref> A very light grey form from western dry region of India named by Walter Koelz as ''kathiawarensis'' is also considered merely as a variant.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Abdulali, H. |year=1975| title=On the validity of ''Lanius schach kathiawarensis'' Koelz |journal=Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society |volume=72 |issue=3 |pages=854–855|url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48288046}}</ref> In southern India and Sri Lanka, subspecies ''caniceps'', is marked by the rufous restricted to the rump, light crown and the pure grey on the back. Biswamoy Biswas supported the view that ''nigriceps'' (having upper mantle grey and lower mantle rufous) was a hybrid of ''tricolor'' and ''erythronotus''.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Biswas, B. |author-link=Biswamoy Biswas |year=1950|title=On the shrike ''Lanius tephronotus'' (Vigors), with remarks on the ''erythronotus'' and ''tricolor'' groups of ''Lanius schach'' Linne, and their hybrids |journal=Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society |volume=49|issue=3 |pages=444–455 |url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48181948}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|journal=Journal für Ornithologie |year=1939| title=Gliederung und Verbreitung des Formenkreises ''Lanius schach'' L |author=Dunajewski, A. |author-link=Andrzej Dunajewski |pages=28–53 |volume=83 |issue=1 |language=de |doi=10.1007/BF01950811| s2cid=36528094}}</ref>

Subspecies ''longicaudatus'' has a greyer crown and is found in Thailand and Burma. The nominate subspecies is found in China from the Yangtze valley south to Hainan and Taiwan. Some individuals of the nominate form show melanism and were once described as a species ''fuscatus''.<ref name=acta2007/><ref>{{cite journal |year=2009 |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=288–294 |journal=Zoological Research |doi=10.3724/SP.J.1141.2009.03288 |title=Comparison of breeding ecology between two color morphs of ''Lanius schach'' |author1=Huang, J. |author2=Zhao, S. |author3=Lin, Y. |author4=Yang, L. |author5=Chen, Y. |author6=Tang, S. |author7=Hu, H. |url=https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/64301/1/zr09044.pdf}}</ref> Island forms include ''nasutus'' (Philippine Islands from Mindanao to Luzon and north Borneo), ''suluensis'' (Sulu Island), ''bentet'' (Sunda Islands and Sumatra other than Borneo) and ''stresemanni'' of New Guinea.<ref name=mayr/>

==Description== The long-tailed shrike is a typical shrike, favouring dry open habitats and found perched prominently atop a bush or on a wire. The dark mask through the eye is broad and covers the forehead in most subspecies and the whole head is black in subspecies ''tricolor'' and ''nasutus''. The tail is narrow and graduated with pale rufous on the outer feathers. Subspecies ''erythronotus'' has the grey of the mantle and upper back suffused with rufous while the southern Indian ''caniceps'' has pure grey.<ref name=hbk>{{cite book|title=Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan |volume=7 |edition=Second |pages=93–98 |publisher=Oxford University Press |place=New Delhi |year=1986|author1=Ali, S. |author2=Ripley, S.D. |name-list-style=amp }}</ref> A small amount of white is present at the base of the primaries. The bay-backed shrike is smaller and more contrastingly patterned and has a more prominent white patch on the wing. The sexes are alike in plumage.<ref>{{cite book|title=Birds of South Asia. The Ripley Guide |volume=2 |author1=Rasmussen, P.C. |author2=Anderton, J.C . |name-list-style=amp |year=2005|pages=350–351}}</ref>

==Distribution and habitat== The species is found across Asia from Kazakhstan to New Guinea. It is found mainly in scrub and open habitats. Many of the temperate zone populations are migratory, moving south in winter while those in the tropics tend to be sedentary although they may make short distance movements. Subspecies ''caniceps'' of southern India is found in winter in the dry coastal zone of southern India.<ref name=hbk/><ref>{{cite journal |author=Guruswami, V. |year=1997| title=South Indian Grey-backed Shrike ''Lanius schach caniceps'' |journal=Newsletter for Birdwatchers |volume= 37 |issue=5 |page=91|url=https://archive.org/stream/NLBW37_5#page/n21/mode/1up}}</ref> Subspecies ''tricolor'' migrates south to Bengal in India.<ref>{{cite journal| author=Law, S.C. |year=1932 |title=The status of the Indian Blackheaded Shrike ''Lanius nigriceps'' (Frank) in lower Bengal |journal=Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society |volume=36 |issue=1 |pages=259–262 |url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48199116}}</ref> They are found in scrub, grassland and open land under cultivation. A survey in southern India found them to be among the commonest wintering shrikes and found at a linear density along roadsides at about 0.58 per kilometer, often choosing wires to perch.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Biological Letters |year=2004 |volume=41 |issue=2 |pages=65–69 |title=Status, habitat preferences and population estimates of non-breeding shrikes ''Lanius'' spp. in Maharashtra and Karnataka states, India |author1=Pande, S. |author2=Pawashe, A. |author3=Sant, N. |author4=Mahabal, A.}}</ref>

This species is a rare vagrant to western Europe on the strength of two accepted records in Great Britain on South Uist in November 2000<ref>{{cite journal|author=Stevenson, A. |year=2000 |title=The Long-tailed Shrike on the Outer Hebrides – a new British bird |journal=Birding World|volume=13 |issue=11 |pages=454–457}}</ref> and the Netherlands near Den Helder in October 2011. A bird matching the features of ''caniceps'' was seen on the island of Maldives.<ref>{{cite journal|title=New records of birds from the Maldives, with notes on other species |volume=17 |year=2001 |pages=67–73 |author1=Anderson, C. |author2=Baldock, M. |url=http://www.orientalbirdclub.org/publications/forktail/17pdfs/Anderson-Maldives.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120226210547/http://www.orientalbirdclub.org/publications/forktail/17pdfs/Anderson-Maldives.pdf |archive-date=2012-02-26 |journal=Forktail}}</ref> It has also occurred as a vagrant to Jordan,<ref>{{cite journal|title=First Record of Long-tailed Shrike ''Lanius schach'' for Jordan| author=Dufourny, H. |journal=Sandgrouse |year=2006 |volume=28| issue=1| pages=73–75}}</ref> Israel, Turkey,<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Shirihai, H. |author2=Golan, Y. |title=First records of Long-tailed Shrike ''Lanius schach'' in Israel and Turkey |year=1994 |journal=Sandgrouse |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=36–40}}</ref>

==Behaviour and ecology== [[Image:Long-tailed Shrike (Lanius schach)- erythronotus race at Bharatpur I IMG 5401.jpg|thumb|upright|Upright posture (ssp. ''erythronotus'' (Keoladeo National Park, India)]] The long-tailed shrike has a characteristic upright "shrike" attitude when perched on a bush, from which it glides down at an angle to take lizards, large insects, small birds and rodents. It maintains feeding territories and is usually single; pairs are well spaced out. Several individuals have been observed indulging in play behaviour fighting over perches.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Serrao, J.S. |year=1969 |title=A curious play of Rufousbacked Shrikes |journal=Newsletter for Birdwatchers |volume=9 |issue=11 |page=9 |url=https://archive.org/stream/NLBW9#page/n155/mode/1up}}</ref> The usual calls are harsh grating and scolding calls, likened to the squealing of a frog caught by a snake. They are capable of vocal mimicry and include the calls of many species including lapwings, cuckoos, puppies and squirrels in their song.<ref name=hbk/> This singing ability makes it a popular pet in parts of Southeast Asia.<ref>{{cite book |title=Conservation of Tropical Birds |url=https://archive.org/details/conservationtrop00sodh |url-access=limited |page=163 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |year=2011|author1=Sodhi, N.S. |author2=Sekercioğlu, C.H. |author3=Barlow, J. |author4=Robinson, S. |isbn=978-1-4443-3482-1 |name-list-style=amp}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal| journal=BirdingASIA |volume=5 |year=2006| pages=16–24| title=The bird trade in Medan, north Sumatra: an overview |author=Shepherd, C.R. |url=http://www.traffic.org/non-traffic/non-traffic_pub1.pdf}}</ref>

Long-tailed shrikes take a wide variety of animal prey. On occasion, they have been noted capturing fish from a stream.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Magrath, H.A.F. |year=1910 |title=The food of the Rufous-backed Shrike (''Lanius erythronotus'') |journal=Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society |volume=20 |issue=1| page=218 |url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/30166395}}</ref> They also take small snakes.<ref>{{cite journal| author=Mohan, D. |year=1994| title=Rufousbacked Shrike (''Lanius schach'' Linne) feeding a Striped Keelback (''Amphiesma stolata'') to Cuckoo (''Cuculus canorus'' Linne) fledgeling |journal=Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society |volume=91 |issue=1| page=143 |url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48296524}}</ref> It sometimes indulges in kleptoparasitism and takes prey from other birds. It also captures flying insects in the air. They sometimes impale prey on a thorny bush after feeding just on the head or brain. They have been reported to feed on the fruits of the neem in Kerala, even attempting to impale them on a twig.<ref name=hbk/><ref>{{cite journal |author=Neelakantan, K.K. |year=1952| title= More stray bird notes from Malabar |journal=Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society |volume=50| issue=3 |pages=664–667|url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48057269}}</ref>

The breeding season is in summer in the temperate ranges. The nest is a deep and loose cup made up of thorny twigs, rags and hair. This is placed in a thorny bush, trees such as ''Flacourtia'' and wild date palms (''Phoenix'').<ref>{{cite journal|author=Law, S.C. |year=1933| title=Further notes on the nesting of Lanius nigriceps Frank. with observations on juvenile plumage| journal=Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society| volume=36| pages=499–501 |url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48199402}}</ref> The usual clutch is about 3 to 6 eggs which are incubated by both sexes. The eggs hatch after about 13 to 16 days. Young chicks are often fed with pieces of small birds captured by the parents.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Yoong, K.S. |title=Observations on the hunting and feeding behaviour of breeding Long-tailed Shrikes ''Lanius schach''| journal=BirdingASIA |volume=16 |year=2011 |pages=71–74}}</ref> A second brood may be raised in the same nest. They are sometimes parasitized by cuckoos such as the common cuckoo (Dehra Dun), common hawk-cuckoo, Jacobin cuckoo and the Asian koel in Bangladesh.<ref name=hbk/><ref>{{cite journal|title=Factors influencing host nest use by the brood parasitic Asian Koel (''Eudynamys scolopacea'') |author1=Begum, S. |author2=Moksnes, A. |author3=Røskaft, E. |author4=Stokke, B.G. |name-list-style=amp |journal=Journal of Ornithology |year=2011 |volume=152 |issue=3 |pages=793–800 |doi=10.1007/s10336-011-0652-y |s2cid=39665560}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Lanius schach}} * [http://ibc.lynxeds.com/species/long-tailed-shrike-lanius-schach Photographs and media on the Internet Bird Collection]

long-tailed shrike Category:Birds of China Category:Birds of Central Asia Category:Birds of Indomalaya long-tailed shrike long-tailed shrike