Brown Shrike

Lanius cristatusOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Shrikes (Laniidae)

Codes: Common Name: BRSH Scientific Name: LANCRI ITIS Taxonomic No.: 178525

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Brown Shrike

Brown Shrike: Small shrike, with warm brown upperparts and buff underparts. Face is white with black mask; throat is white. Bill is short, heavy, and hooked. Tail is long and round-tipped with faint bars. Eats small snakes, rodents, birds and insect. Low, swift flight on shallow, rapid wing beats.

● Song: "Chack"

● Foraging & Feeding: Brown Shrike: Diet includes insects, reptiles, and small mammals. Forages by perching on a bush, fence post, or power line; prey is often taken to a larder and impaled on a thorn or wedged in a fork.

● Breeding & nesting: Brown Shrike: Four to seven brown spotted, pink or white eggs are laid in a nest made of sticks lined with feathers, hair, and fine materials. Incubation ranges from 12 to 16 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Brown Shrike: Other North American shrikes are gray and white.

Flight Pattern

Undulating flight.

● Range & Habitat: Brown Shrike: Asian species casually occurring in Alaska from the western Aleutians, St. Lawrence Island, and Anchorage; fall and winter records from California. Preferred habitats include lowlands, farmlands, downlands, and orchards with thickets and scrub.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^PopulationAccidental in AK and CA

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight1 Ounces

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America

Brown Shrike

Brown Shrike

Flight Pattern