The isabelline shrike or Daurian shrike (''Lanius isabellinus'') is a member of the shrike family ( Laniidae). It was previously considered

conspecific Biological specificity is the tendency of a characteristic such as a behavior or a biochemical variation to occur in a particular species. Biochemist Linus Pauling stated that "Biological specificity is the set of characteristics of living organis ...

with the red-backed shrike and red-tailed shrike. It is found in an extensive area between the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...

and north and central China southeast to the Qaidam Basin. Overwinters in Africa and Arabia.

Etymology

The genus name, ''

Lanius ''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 ...

'', is derived from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word for "

butcher A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat, or participate within any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat and poultry for sale in retail or wholesale food establishm ...

", and some shrikes are also known as "butcher birds" because of their feeding habits. The common name is from the specific ''isabellinus'',

New Latin New Latin (also called Neo-Latin or Modern Latin) is the revival of Literary Latin used in original, scholarly, and scientific works since about 1500. Modern scholarly and technical nomenclature, such as in zoological and botanical taxonomy ...

for "greyish-yellow" probably named for Isabella I of Castile, said to have promised not to change her undergarments until Spain was freed from the Moors. The common English name "shrike" is from

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

''scríc'', "shriek", referring to the shrill call. Lanius isabellinus GRK

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 are distinguished from other orders of birds by th ...

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.

Description

The plumage is isabelline, the sandy colour which gives rise to its name. It has a red tail. Young birds can be distinguished from young red-backed shrikes by the much sparser vermiculations on the underparts.

References

External links

Pictures
- Oiseaux {{Taxonbar, from=Q752678

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 the ...

Birds of Western China Birds of North China Birds of Mongolia Birds of Africa Birds of East Africa Birds of South Asia Birds of Western Asia

Taxa named by Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg Taxa named by Wilhelm Hemprich

Etymology

Habits

Description

References

Further reading

Identification

External links