Brown Shrike vs Red-backed Shrike

Brown Shrike

Lanius cristatus

Small32 gShrubland

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.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Recording: Ujjal Kishor De · CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: 胡正恆(Jackson Hu) · CC BY 4.0

Red-backed Shrike

Lanius collurio

Small28 gWoodland

This 16–18 cm-long (6.3–7.1 in) migratory bird eats large insects, small birds, frogs, rodents and lizards. Like other shrikes it hunts from prominent perches, and impales corpses on thorns or barbed wire as a "larder." This practice has earned it the nickname of "butcher bird." The general colour of the male's upper parts is reddish. It has a grey head and a typical shrike black stripe through the eye. Underparts are tinged pink, and the tail has a black and white pattern similar to that of a wheatear. In the female and young birds the upperparts are brown and vermiculated.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Recording: Christian Kahle · CC0

Photo: le0p0ld_d · CC BY 4.0

Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Brown Shrike and Red-backed Shrike.