Lanius

Lanius
Great grey shrike (Lanius excubitor) impaling a yellowhammer
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Laniidae
Genus: Lanius
Linnaeus, 1758
Type species
Lanius excubitor
Linnaeus, 1758
Species

Many, see text

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.[1]

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 great grey shrike has a circumpolar distribution, and 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.[2]

Taxonomy and species list[edit]

The genus Lanius was introduced by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae.[3] The type species was designated as the great grey shrike by the English naturalist William John Swainson in 1824.[4][5] The genus name is a Latin word meaning "butcher".[6]

The genus contains the following 32 species:[7]

Image Common Name Scientific name Distribution
Yellow-billed shrike Lanius corvinus east, central and west Africa
Magpie shrike Lanius melanoleucus central and east Africa
Long-tailed fiscal Lanius cabanisi southern Somalia, southern and southeastern Kenya, from the shores of Lake Victoria to the coast; and northern and eastern Tanzania south to Dar es Salaam
Grey-backed fiscal Lanius excubitoroides Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda
Taita fiscal Lanius dorsalis southeastern South Sudan, southern Ethiopia, and western Somalia to northeastern Tanzania
Great grey shrike Lanius excubitor Eurasia and northern Africa
Somali fiscal Lanius somalicus Djibouti, Ethiopia and Somalia in the Horn of Africa, as well as in Kenya in the African Great Lakes region
Loggerhead shrike Lanius ludovicianus southern Canada, the contiguous USA and Mexico
Giant grey shrike Lanius giganteus central China
Chinese grey shrike Lanius sphenocercus China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Mongolia, and Russia
Iberian grey shrike Lanius meridionalis southern Europe
Northern shrike Lanius borealis North America and Siberia
Masked shrike Lanius nubicus southeastern Europe and at the eastern end of the Mediterranean
São Tomé fiscal Lanius newtoni São Tomé Island, São Tomé and Príncipe
Northern fiscal Lanius humeralis Sub-Saharan Africa
Emin's shrike Lanius gubernator Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, South Sudan, and Uganda
Mackinnon's shrike Lanius mackinnoni Western and Central Africa, including Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda
Souza's shrike Lanius souzae Angola to Botswana, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zambia
Southern fiscal Lanius collaris Sub-Saharan Africa
Lesser grey shrike Lanius minor southern France, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic, Italy, the former Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and southern Russia
Woodchat shrike Lanius senator southern Europe, northern Africa and the Middle East
Burmese shrike Lanius collurioides Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam
Tiger shrike Lanius tigrinus Russia, Japan and China
Bay-backed shrike Lanius vittatus Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal and India
Isabelline shrike Lanius isabellinus India
Red-backed shrike Lanius collurio Western Europe east to central Russia
Red-tailed shrike Lanius phoenicuroides south Siberia and central Asia
Mountain shrike Lanius validirostris Philippines
Brown shrike Lanius cristatus northern 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[edit]

Formerly, some authorities also considered the following species (or subspecies) as species within the genus Lanius:

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Shrike". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  2. ^ Lefranc, Norbert; Worfolk, Tim (1997). Shrikes. London, UK: Pica Press. p. 19. ISBN 978-1-4081-3505-1.
  3. ^ Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1 (10th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 93.
  4. ^ Swainson, William John (1824–1825). "An inquiry into the natural affinities of the Laniadae, or shrikes; preceded by some observations on the present state of ornithology in this country". Zoological Journal. 1 (3): 289–307 [294].
  5. ^ Mayr, Ernst; Greenway, James C. Jr, eds. (1960). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 9. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 342.
  6. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 219. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  7. ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2023). "Shrikes, vireos, shrike-babblers". IOC World Bird List Version 13.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  8. ^ "Coracornis sanghirensis - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-01-29.
  9. ^ Australia, Atlas of Living. "Pachycephala (Alisterornis) rufiventris rufiventris | Atlas of Living Australia". bie.ala.org.au. Retrieved 2017-02-06.
  10. ^ "Pitohui kirhocephalus - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-01-30.
  11. ^ "Pycnonotus jocosus - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-03-12.
  12. ^ "Alophoixus bres - Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2017-05-15.
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