Tiger Shrike
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| Tiger Shrike | ||||||||||||||
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 Juvenile at Hindhede Nature Park, Singapore
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| Lanius tigrinus Drapiez, 1828 |
The Tiger Shrike or Thick-billed Shrike (Lanius tigrinus) is a small passerine bird which belongs to the genus Lanius in the shrike family, Laniidae. It is found in wooded habitats across eastern Asia. It is a shy, solitary bird which is less conspicuous than most other shrikes. Like other shrikes it is predatory, feeding on small animals.
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[edit] Description
It is a fairly small shrike, 17-19 centimetres long with a weight of 27-37 grams. The thick bill is blue-black with a black tip and the legs are grey-black. The adult male's back, rump and shoulders are reddish-brown with blackish bars creating a tiger-like pattern. It has a black mask and grey crown and nape. The wings and tail are dull brown and the underparts are white. Females are duller in colour than the males and have a white stripe above the eye and black barring on the flanks. Young birds have dark scale-like markings and lack the grey and black on the head. They are similar to the juvenile Brown Shrike but have a thicker bill and shorter tail, lack a dark mask and are more contrastingly marked.
The calls are harsh and include a loud, repeated territorial call, a chattering alarm call and a softer trilling call. The song is a musical warbling.
[edit] Habitat and range
It breeds in open woodland, forest edges and farmland with scattered trees in lowland areas of central and eastern China, Korea, Japan (northern and central Honshū) and the Russian Far East. It winters mainly in Malaysia and Indonesia. It has a wide distribution and is not considered threatened although it has declined recently in Japan.
[edit] Behaviour
It feeds mainly on insects, particularly grasshoppers, crickets, beetles, bugs, butterflies and moths. Other small animals including birds and lizards are also taken. It typically hunts from a perch at the forest edge, perching less conspicuously than many other shrikes. It also forages among branches and leaves to find prey.
The breeding season lasts from May to July. Pairs form during northward migration or soon after arrival on the breeding grounds. Courting males perch by the female, bowing the body up and down and moving the head from side to side while uttering a soft subsong. They also perform a fast display-flight. The nest is built by both sexes on a branch in a deciduous tree, usually 1.5 to 5 metres above the ground. Three to six eggs are laid with five being most common. They are incubated by the female for 14-16 days. The young birds fledge after about two weeks and remain close to the nest for another two weeks.
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2004). Lanius tigrinus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern.
- Brazil, Mark A. (1991) The Birds of Japan, Christopher Helm, London.
- Harris, Tony & Franklin, Kim (2000) Shrikes & Bush-shrikes, Christopher Helm, London.
- MacKinnon, John & Phillipps, Karen (2000) A Field Guide to the Birds of China, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
- Robson, Craig (2002), A Field Guide to the Birds of South-East Asia, New Holland Publishers (UK) Ltd.
[edit] External links
- Oriental Bird Images: Tiger Shrike Lanius tigrinus
- Tiger Shrike photos
- Account of a Tiger Shrike eating a beetle
