Lanius
{{Short description|Genus of birds}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Lanius excubitor.jpg
| image_caption = Great grey shrike (Lanius excubitor) impaling a yellowhammer
| taxon = Lanius
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = Many, see text
| type_species =Lanius excubitor
| type_species_authority = Linnaeus, 1758
}}
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.{{Cite OED |Shrike}}
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.{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | year=1758 | title= Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | volume=1 | edition=10th | page=93 | publisher=Laurentii Salvii | place=Holmiae (Stockholm) | language=Latin | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/764491}} The type species was designated as the great grey shrike by the English naturalist William Swainson in 1824.{{ cite journal | last=Swainson | first=William | author-link=William Swainson | year=1824–1825 | title=An inquiry into the natural affinities of the Laniadae, or shrikes; preceded by some observations on the present state of ornithology in this country | journal=Zoological Journal | volume=1 | issue=3 | pages=289–307 [294] | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/27571021 }}{{ cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=Ernst | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr | editor2-last=Greenway | editor2-first=James C. Jr | year=1960 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=9 | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=342 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14481017 }} The genus name is a Latin word meaning "butcher".{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | page=[https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling/page/n219 219] }}
| class="wikitable" | |||
| Image | Common Name | Scientific name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| 120px | Yellow-billed shrike | Lanius corvinus | east, central and west Africa |
| 120px | Magpie shrike | Lanius melanoleucus | central and east Africa |
| 120px
|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 | |||
| 120px
|Lanius excubitoroides |Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda | |||
| 120px
|Lanius dorsalis |southeastern South Sudan, southern Ethiopia, and western Somalia to northeastern Tanzania | |||
| 120px
|Lanius excubitor |Eurasia and northern Africa | |||
| 120px
|Lanius somalicus |Djibouti, Ethiopia and Somalia in the Horn of Africa, as well as in Kenya in the African Great Lakes region | |||
| 120px
|Lanius ludovicianus |southern Canada, the contiguous USA and Mexico | |||
| |Giant grey shrike
|Lanius giganteus |central China | |||
| 120px
|Lanius sphenocercus |China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Mongolia, and Russia | |||
| 120px
|Lanius meridionalis |southern Europe | |||
| 120px
|Lanius borealis |North America and Siberia | |||
| 120px
|Lanius nubicus |southeastern Europe and at the eastern end of the Mediterranean | |||
| |São Tomé fiscal
|Lanius newtoni |São Tomé Island, São Tomé and Príncipe | |||
| 120px
|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 | |||
| 120px
|Lanius mackinnoni |Western and Central Africa, including Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda | |||
| 120px
|Lanius souzae |Angola to Botswana, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zambia | |||
| 120px
|Lanius collaris |Sub-Saharan Africa | |||
| 120px
|Lanius minor |southern France, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic, Italy, the former Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and southern Russia | |||
| 120px
|Lanius senator |southern Europe, northern Africa and the Middle East | |||
| 120px
|Lanius collurioides |Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam | |||
| 120px
|Lanius tigrinus |Russia, Japan and China | |||
| 120px | Bay-backed shrike | Lanius vittatus | Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal and India |
| 120px | Isabelline shrike | Lanius isabellinus | India |
| 120px
|Lanius collurio |Western Europe east to central Russia | |||
| 120px
|Lanius phoenicuroides |south Siberia and central Asia | |||
| File:Mountain Shrike.jpg
|Lanius validirostris |Philippines | |||
| 120x120px
|Lanius cristatus |northern Asia from Mongolia to Siberia and in South Asia, Myanmar and the Malay Peninsula | |||
| 120px | Bull-headed shrike | Lanius bucephalus | northeast China, Korea, Japan and far-eastern Russia |
| 120px | Long-tailed shrike | Lanius schach | across Asia from Kazakhstan to New Guinea |
| 120px | 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){{Cite web|url=http://avibase.bsc-eoc.org/species.jsp?avibaseid=9A7D5255A43E0AC7|title=Coracornis sanghirensis - Avibase|website=avibase.bsc-eoc.org|access-date=2017-01-29}}
- Rufous whistler (as Lanius macularius){{Cite web|url=http://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid:biodiversity.org.au:afd.taxon:720a394b-bbe6-4eda-b18c-c327b3dde3b4#names|title=Pachycephala (Alisterornis) rufiventris rufiventris {{!}} Atlas of Living Australia|last=Australia|first=Atlas of Living|website=bie.ala.org.au|language=en-AU|access-date=2017-02-06}}
- Northern variable pitohui (as Lanius kirhocephalus){{Cite web|url=https://avibase.bsc-eoc.org/species.jsp?avibaseid=AAB44A3FAFB80D6E|title=Pitohui kirhocephalus - Avibase|website=avibase.bsc-eoc.org|access-date=2017-01-30}}
- Red-whiskered bulbul (as Lanius jocosus){{Cite web|url=http://avibase.bsc-eoc.org/species.jsp?avibaseid=F9E375109E961EAC|title=Pycnonotus jocosus - Avibase|website=avibase.bsc-eoc.org|access-date=2017-03-12}}
- Grey-cheeked bulbul (as Lanius Bres){{Cite web|url=http://avibase.bsc-eoc.org/species.jsp?lang=EN&avibaseid=44DB2E85&sec=summary&ssver=1|title=Alophoixus bres - Avibase|website=avibase.bsc-eoc.org|access-date=2017-05-15}}
References
{{Reflist | refs =
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{{Laniidae}}
{{Corvides|Co.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q754657}}
{{Authority control}}