Brown Shrike

How to identify

Field marks

1. Black mask with a white supercilium above
2. Upperparts mainly rufous, tail rounded
3. Underparts creamy white, with rufous-brown on the sides and belly
4. Wings rufous, without a white wing patch

Male, female and young

Female often has fine vermiculations on the belly and a dark brown mask, less distinct than the male's; the sexes are difficult to distinguish in the field.

Voice

Loud chattering or quacking calls are distinctive; song on the wintering grounds is weak and often includes mimicry of other birds' calls.

Similar species

Red-backed Shrike

The typical subspecies of Brown Shrike has a rufous-tinged tail, without the reddish tone of Red-backed Shrike.

Where and when it's recorded

Brown Shrike has been recorded at 1,822 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 34 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

1. Taipei – Tianliaoyang WetlandTaiwan (China)2,861 records
2. Huajiang IBA – Huajiang Wild Duck Nature Park (Huajiang to Zhongxing Bridge)Taiwan (China)2,454 records
3. Taipei – National Taiwan University Main CampusTaiwan (China)1,903 records

Countries and regions with the most records

ChinaIndiaThailandPhilippinesSri LankaSingaporeCambodiaMalaysia

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The brown shrike (Lanius cristatus) is a bird in the shrike family that is found mainly in Asia. It is closely related to the red-backed shrike (L. collurio) and isabelline shrike (L. isabellinus). 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.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

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