Tiger shrike

Lanius tigrinus

(Photo from Hunan Forestry)

Common name:
tiger shrike (en); picanço-tigre (pt); pie-grièche tigrine (fr); alcaudón tigre (es); tigerwürger (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Laniidae

Range:
This species breeds in eastern China from Guizhou, Hunan and Zhejiang north to Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang, in Korea, in the Japanese islands of Honshu and Kyushu and marginally in extreme south-eastern Russia. They migrate south to winter from southern China and Myanmar south to Indonesia.

Size:
These birds are 17-19 cm long. Males tend to be smaller than females, weighing 27-29 g while females weigh 29-37 g.

Habitat:
The tiger shrike breeds mainly in temperate, deciduous and mixed forests with thick understorey, also using scrublands, arable land and both rural and urban gardens. Outside the breeding season they use moist tropical forests, mangroves, arable land and rural gardens. This species is present from sea level up to an altitude of 1.200 m.

Diet:
They hunt by sallying out from a perch, mainly taking insects such as beetles, grasshoppers, crickets, bugs, butterflies and moths. They are als known to take other arthropods, frogs, lizards and even small birds.

Breeding:Tiger shrikes breed in May-July. They are monogamous and both sexes help build the nest, a cup made of stems, twigs, roots and other vegetation, and lined with grasses. The nest is placed on a tree branch, or sometimes on a scrub, 0,5-5 m above the ground. The female lays 3-6 whitish, pinkish or blue-green eggs with dark markings, which she incubates alone for 13-16 days. The chicks fledge 13-15 days after hatching, but only become fully independent about 2 weeks later. Each pair raises a single brood per season.

Conservation:
IUCN status -LC (Least Concern)
This species has a very large breeding range and is is described as rare in China and Russia, relatively common in Korea, uncommon in Japan and locally uncommon to common throughout its non-breeding range. The population is estimated to be declining on the basis of marked declines in Russia and Japan from the 1960s to the 1990s at least.

Red-backed shrike

Lanius collurio

(Photo from Internet Bird Collection)

Common name:
red-backed shrike (en); picanço-de-dorso-ruivo (pt); pie-grièche écorcheur (fr); alcaudón dorsirrojo (es); neuntöter (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Laniidae

Range:
This species breeds throughout most of Europe, with the exception of the British isles and Iceland, from the northern Iberian Peninsula to northern Sweden and Finland, and east to Russia, Kazakhstan and north-western Iran. They migrate south to winter in southern Africa, from Kenya and northern Angola down to South Africa.

Size:
These birds are 16-18 cm long and have a wingspan of 26 cm. They weigh 28-33 g.

Habitat:
The red-backed shrike breeds in a wide range of habitats, including dry scrublands, temperate grasslands, temperate and boreal forests, pastures, plantations, arable land, orchards and even within urban areas. They winter in dry savannas.

Diet:
They feed mostly on ground invertebrates and flying insects, but also small birds and mammals, lizards and frogs. Prey items are often impaled on thorns in order to build up a food supply for periods of bad weather.

Breeding:
Red-backed shrikes breed in April-July. They nest in a cup made of plant stems, roots and grass, and lined with moss and hair. The nest is placed in a thorny scrub or small tree, usually 1,5-3,5 m above the ground. There the female lays 3-6 whitish egg with light brown spots, which she incubates alone for 14-15 days. The chicks are fed by the female, while the male collects food for the family, fledging 14-16 days after hatching.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a very large breeding range and the global population is estimated at 38-156 million individual. The population is estimated to be declining overall following a dramatic decline in the west and north-east of its breeding range from 1970 to 1990 at least. However, in Europe, trends since 1980 show that populations have undergone a moderate increase.

Masked shrike

Lanius nubicus

Photo by Christodoulos Makris (Trek Nature)

Common name:
masked shrike (en); picanço-núbio (pt); pie-grèche masquée (fr); alcaudón núbico (es); maskenwürger (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Laniidae

Range:
This species is found breeding in south-eastern Europe and the Middle East, from Greece, Macedonia and Bulgaria to southern Israel, northern Iraq and western Iran. They migrate south to winter in Africa from Ethiopia and Eritrea to Chad, Mali and eastern Mauritania. There is also a wintering population in Yemen and southern Saudi Arabia.

Size:
These birds are 17-18,5 cm long and have a wingspan of 24-27 cm. They weigh 50-70 g.

Habitat:
The masked shrike is mostly found in dry savannas and scrublands, but also in deciduous and coniferous forests, plantations, arable land and rural gardens. It is typically found up to an altitude of 1.000 m, but may sometimes be found at altitudes up to 2.400 m.

Diet:
They forage by waiting on a perch, in a scrub or tree, and sallying out to catch their prey on the ground or sometimes in flight. They mainly feed on insects, such as crickets, grasshoppers and beetles, but will also sometimes take other arthropods and small vertebrates.

Breeding:
Masked shrikes are monogamous and breed in April-June. The nest is a compact cup made of leaves and twigs, and lined with feathers and hairs. The nest is well hidden on a tree or thorny scrub, up to 12 m above the ground. The female lays 2-7 cream or yellowish eggs with dark spots, which she incubates alone for 14-16 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 18-20 days after hatching, but only become fully independent 3-4 weeks later. Each pair may raise 1-2 broods per season.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a large breeding range and the global population is estimated at 140.000-600.000 individuals. The population is estimated to be declining, mostly due to habitat degradation and destruction, but possibly also because of hunting and persecution due to the fact that the masked shrike is believed to bring bad luck in Greece and Syria.

Brown shrike

Lanius cristatus

Photo by Mark Andrews (Internet Bird Collection) 

Common name:

brown shrike (en); picanço-castanho (pt); pie-grièche brune (fr); alcaudón pardo (es); braunwürger (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Passeriformes

Family Laniidae

Range:

This Asian species is found breeding from central Russia east to the pacific coast, and south to Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China, Korea and Japan. They migrate south to winter in southern Asia, from India and Sri Lanka east to Myanmar and the Malay Peninsula and to the Philippines.

Size:

These birds are 19-20 cm long and weigh 30-35 g.

Habitat:

These birds are mostly found in bushes and small tree along the edges of coniferous and mixed deciduous forests, as well as in forest clearings, forested steppes, and in thickets along streams or on the edges of swamps.

Diet:

They mainly feed on insects, especially Lepidoptera, but are also known to hunt small birds, mammals and lizards.

Breeding:

Brown shrikes breed in May-July. The nest cup is built by the female, using stems and blades of grasses, and is typically placed either on the ground or in bushes of willow, dwarf birches and hawthorns. The female lays 2-7 eggs which are incubated for 15-17 days. The chicks fledge 17 days after hatching.

Conservation:

IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)

This species has an extremely large breeding range and, although there are no reliable estimates of population size, it is known to be very widespread. This population is estimated to be declining following a decline of 80% in Japan between the 1970s and 1990s.

Woodchat shrike

Lanius senator

(Photo from Rflx-s)

Common name:

woodchat shrike (en); picanço-barreteiro (pt); pie-grièche à tête rousse (fr); alcaudón común (es); rotkopfwürger (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Passeriformes

Family Laniidae

Range:

The woodchat shrike mostly breeds in the Iberian Peninsula, but they can be found throughout the Mediterranean basin, from Iberia and Morocco in the west to the Balkans, Turkey and Israel and through the Caucasus into northern Iran. They winter in sub-Saharan Africa, throughout the Sahel belt, from western Africa to Ethiopia, Eritrea and the extreme south-west of the Arabian Peninsula.

Size:

These birds are 18-19 cm long and have a wingspan of 26-28 cm. They weigh up to 50 g.

Habitat:

They mostly breed in areas of scattered trees and tall bushes, namely in the cork and Holm oak woodlands of Spain and Portugal. During the winter they occupy dry forest and rainforest clearings, as well as thorny bush savannas.

Diet:

Woodchat shrikes mostly hunt large invertebrates and small vertebrates, including beetles, grasshoppers, cicadas and crickets, but also ants, butterflies, caterpillars, snails, earthworms, centipedes, spiders, mice, small birds, lizards and frogs. Exceptionally they also take berries and other fruits.

Breeding:

These birds start breeding in May-June. The nest is a compact, semi-spherical bowl made of stems, branches and twigs, with the interior lined with fine materials such as feathers and the inflorescences of small plants. There the female lays 5-6 eggs, which she incubates alone for 18 days. Both parents feed the chicks until fledging, which takes place 15 days after hatching.

Conservation:

IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)

Although the woodchat shrike is believed to be facing a widespread decline owing to various factors, they have a global population of 2-7 millions and a very large breeding range which justify the species not being considered threatened at present.