Long-tailed Shrike

The long-tailed or rufous-backed shrike is a typical shrike with a long, narrow, graduated black tail edged pale rufous, a broad black mask through the eye that covers the forehead, rufous rump and flanks, and a small white patch at the base of the primaries. Plumage varies among its nine subspecies: some have the whole head black, and the grey of the back ranges from pure grey to rufous-tinged. The sexes look alike. The smaller bay-backed shrike is more contrasting with a larger white wing patch (Wikipedia, general species account).

It favours dry, open scrub and perches prominently on bushes or wires. It ranges across Asia from Kazakhstan to New Guinea; temperate populations mostly migrate south in winter, while tropical ones are largely sedentary, making short movements. It forms a superspecies with the grey-backed shrike of the Tibetan plateau. Its genus name means butcher, and its species name imitates its call (Wikipedia, general species account).