Shemgang, Bhutan
March 2008

The Long-tailed Shrike is distributed from central Asia to eastern China and south through the Indian sub-continent, Indochina, the Malaysian Peninsula and into Indonesia, the Philippines and New Guinea.

It is found mainly in open areas with suitable perches and  bushes and is most often associated with cultivated land.

There are several sub-species differing mainly in the extent of black on the head and the colour of the back ranging from all grey to all rufous.

The sub-species shown here, L. s. tricolor has an all black cap and a deep rufous back with some grey towards the nape.

It hunts from a prominent perch and kills its prey on the ground. Prey includes large insects, beetles, small mammals, birds, lizards, frogs and crabs.

There is a recording on xeno-canto and additional information is available via Avibase .