Lanius, the typical shrikes, are a genus of passerine birds in the shrike family Laniidae. The majority of the family's species are placed in this genus. 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 common English name "shrike" is from Old English scríc, "shriek", referring to the shrill call.
Some African species are known as fiscals. That name comes from the Afrikaans word fiskaal ("public official", especially a hangman), because they hang their prey on thorns for storage.
Most Lanius species occur in Eurasia and Africa, but the Northern shrike is found in eastern Asia and North America, while the loggerhead shrike is confined to North America. There are no members of this genus or the shrike family in South America or Australia.
Lanius shrikes are birds of open habitats typically seen perched upright on a prominent perch like a treetop or a telephone pole. They sally out for prey, taken in flight or the ground. These species primarily take large insects, but will also take small birds, reptiles and mammals. For large northern species such as the great grey, the majority of the prey will be vertebrates, especially in winter.
Despite their diet, these are not true birds of prey, and lack the strong talons of the raptors. Though they use their feet to hold smaller insects, larger prey items are impaled upon a sharp point, such as a thorn or the barbs of barbed wire. Thus secured they can be ripped open with the hooked bill.
Most Lanius shrikes are solitary, except when breeding and are highly territorial. Northern or temperate species such as the great grey and red-backed shrikes are migratory and winter well south of the breeding range.
The sexes of most species are distinguishable, the male invariably being the brighter bird where there is a difference.
There are some natural groupings within the genus, such as the seven African fiscals, the large grey species (ludovicianus, excubitor, meridionalis and sphenocercus) and the Eurasian brown-backed species (tigrinus, bucephalus, collurio, isabellinus, cristatus and gubernator). In the last group in particular, it has been difficult to define species’ boundaries, and in the past several of these shrikes have been lumped as conspecific.
The prehistoric shrike Lanius miocaenus has been described from Early Miocene fossils found at Langy, France.
Taxonomy and species list The genus Lanius was introduced by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. The type species was designated as the great grey shrike by the English naturalist William Swainson in 1824. The genus name is a Latin word meaning "butcher".
The genus contains the following 32 species:
Image Common name Scientific name DistributionLong-tailed fiscalLanius cabanisisouthern Somalia, southern and southeastern Kenya, from the shores of Lake Victoria to the coast; and northern and eastern Tanzania south to Dar es SalaamGrey-backed fiscalLanius excubitoroidesBurundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, and UgandaTaita fiscalLanius dorsalissoutheastern South Sudan, southern Ethiopia, and western Somalia to northeastern TanzaniaGreat grey shrikeLanius excubitorEurasia and northern AfricaSomali fiscalLanius somalicusDjibouti, Ethiopia and Somalia in the Horn of Africa, as well as in Kenya in the African Great Lakes regionLoggerhead shrikeLanius ludovicianussouthern Canada, the contiguous USA and MexicoGiant grey shrikeLanius giganteuscentral ChinaChinese grey shrikeLanius sphenocercusChina, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Mongolia, and RussiaIberian grey shrikeLanius meridionalissouthwestern EuropeNorthern shrikeLanius borealisNorth America and SiberiaMasked shrikeLanius nubicussoutheastern Europe and at the eastern end of the MediterraneanSão Tomé fiscalLanius newtoniSão Tomé Island, São Tomé and PríncipeNorthern fiscalLanius humeralisSub-Saharan AfricaEmin's shrikeLanius gubernatorCameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, South Sudan, and UgandaMackinnon's shrikeLanius mackinnoniWestern and Central Africa, including Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania and UgandaSouza's shrikeLanius souzaeAngola to Botswana, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Tanzania and ZambiaSouthern fiscalLanius collarisSub-Saharan AfricaLesser grey shrikeLanius minorsouthern France, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic, Italy, the former Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and southern RussiaWoodchat shrikeLanius senatorsouthern Europe, northern Africa and the Middle EastBurmese shrikeLanius collurioidesBangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and VietnamTiger shrikeLanius tigrinusRussia, Japan and China Bay-backed shrike Lanius vittatus Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal and India Isabelline shrike Lanius isabellinus Mongolia and northern China;winters to southern Asia and Africa Red-backed shrikeLanius collurioWestern Europe east to central RussiaRed-tailed shrikeLanius phoenicuroidessouth Siberia and central AsiaMountain shrikeLanius validirostrisPhilippinesBrown shrikeLanius cristatusnorthern Asia from Mongolia to Siberia and in South Asia, Myanmar and the Malay Peninsula Bull-headed shrike Lanius bucephalus northeast China, Korea, Japan and far-eastern Russia Long-tailed shrike Lanius schach across Asia from Kazakhstan to New Guinea Grey-backed shrike Lanius tephronotus Bangladesh, India (Uttarakhand), Nepal, Bhutan, China (Yunnan)
Former species Formerly, some authorities also considered the following species (or subspecies) as species within the genus Lanius: Crested shriketit (as Lanius frontatus) Rufous whistler (as Lanius macularius) Northern variable pitohui (as Lanius kirhocephalus) Red-whiskered bulbul (as Lanius jocosus) Grey-cheeked bulbul (as Lanius Bres)
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