The red-tailed shrike or Turkestan shrike (''Lanius phoenicuroides'') is a member of the

shrike Shrikes () are passerine birds of the family Laniidae. The family is composed of 34 species in two genera. The family name, and that of the larger genus, '' Lanius'', is derived from the Latin word for "butcher", and some shrikes are also known ...

family (

Laniidae Shrikes () are passerine birds of the family Laniidae. The family is composed of 34 species in two genera. The family name, and that of the larger genus, ''Lanius'', is derived from the Latin word for "butcher", and some shrikes are also known ...

). It was formerly considered conspecific with the

isabelline shrike The isabelline shrike or Daurian shrike (''Lanius isabellinus'') is a member of the shrike family (Laniidae). It was previously considered conspecific with the red-backed shrike and red-tailed shrike. It is found in an extensive area between t ...

and the

red-backed shrike The red-backed shrike (''Lanius collurio'') is a carnivorous passerine bird and member of the shrike family, Laniidae. Its breeding range stretches from Western Europe east to central Russia. It is migratory and winters in the eastern areas of ...

Description

The plumage is a sandy colour. It has a red tail..Worfolk, Tim (2000) "Identification of red-backed, isabelline and brown shrikes" ''

Dutch Birding ''Dutch Birding'', originally subtitled ''Journal of the Dutch Birding Association'', and currently subtitled ''International journal on Palaearctic birds'', is an ornithological magazine published by the Amsterdam-based Dutch Birding Associatio ...

'' 22 (6): 323–362

Range

The red-tailed shrike breeds in south

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

and

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

Habits

This migratory medium-sized

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped') which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...

eats large insects, small birds, rodents and lizards. Like other shrikes it hunts from prominent perches, and impales corpses on thorns or barbed wire as a larder. It breeds in open cultivated country, preferably with thorn bushes.

Gallery

image:Lanius phoenicuroides, Vila de Sena, Birding Weto, c.jpg, At the

Zambezi river The Zambezi (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than half of t ...

, Mozambique image:Lanius phoenicuroides MHNT.ZOO.2010.11.213.Turkménistan.jpg, Eggs MHNT Cuculus canorus MHNT.ZOO.2010.11.150.34.jpg, ''Cuculus canorus'' in a clutch of ''Lanius phoenicuroides'' - MHNT

References

External links

Oiseaux
Pictures {{Taxonbar, from=Q15055407 red-tailed shrike Birds of Central Asia Wintering birds of Africa Wintering birds of South Asia red-tailed shrike