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ShrublandCup nestSmall · 32 g
What the Brown Shrike sounds like
ID tip
This shrike is mainly brown on the upper parts and the tail is rounded. The black mask can be paler in winter and has a white brow over it. The underside is creamy with rufous flanks and belly. The wings are brown and lack any white "mirror" patches. Females tend to have fine scalloping on the underside and the mask is dark brown and not as well marked as in the male. The distinction is not easy to use in the field but has been tested with breeding birds in Japan where the female can be identified from the presence of a brood patch.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
When to see the Brown Shrike
One bar for each month. Filled bars are the 9 months with records; pale bars are months with none. The wide bar is October, the month with the most records.
Where to see the Brown Shrike
The map shades 35 countries with regular records, and 11 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.
Recorded as a rare visitor in United States, Sweden, France, Spain, Netherlands, Finland, Belgium, Canada, Ireland, Afghanistan, Germany.
About the Brown Shrike
The brown shrike is a bird in the shrike family that is found mainly in Asia. It is closely related to the red-backed shrike and isabelline shrike. 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 cristatus is Latin for "crested", used in a broader sense than in English. The common English name "shrike" is from Old English scríc, "shriek", referring to the shrill call.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Easily confused with
Long-tailed ShrikeLanius schachThe long-tailed shrike is a typical shrike, favouring dry open habitats and found perched prominently atop a bush or on a wire.
Great Grey ShrikeLanius excubitorAn adult great grey shrike is a medium-sized passerine about as large as a big thrush, measuring from 22 to 26 cm (8.7 to 10.2 in) long.
Southern FiscalLanius collarisThis is a fairly distinctive 21–23-cm long passerine with white underparts and black upperparts extending from the top of the head down to the tail.
Side by side: Brown Shrike vs Loggerhead Shrike · Brown Shrike vs Red-backed Shrike · Brown Shrike vs Great Grey Shrike · Brown Shrike vs Long-tailed Shrike · Brown Shrike vs Southern Fiscal
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