Alternative name: Grey-capped Shrike
- Lanius validirostris
Identification
20-22.5cm. A medium-sized to large shrike with a relatively heavy bill and a longish tail.
- Thin black band above bill extending into black facial mask
- Narrow whitish supercilium (sometimes barely noticable)
- Dark grey crown, nape and mantle to uppertail-coverts (rump and uppertail-coverts sometimes with a rufous tinge)
- Uniform dark brown upperwing with paler fringes
- Dark brown tail
- White chin, throat and breast
- Whitish to greyish-white rest of underparts
- Rufous-brown on flanks and undertail-coverts
- tertius is smaller and deeper rufous on flanks and undertail-coverts
Sexes similar, females slightly smaller.
Juveniles with blackish-brown facial mask reduced in extent, greyish-brown crown and upperparts or brown with dark barring.
Distribution
Locally in the mountains of the Philippines.
A restricted-range species, not common but considered not to be at any immediate risk.
Taxonomy
Three subspecies recognized:
- L. v. validirostris on northern Luzon (Cordillera and northern Sierra Madre)
- L. v. tertius on northern Mindoro (Mount Halcon and Mount Dulungan)
- L. v. hachisuka on Mindanao (Mount Malindang, Misamis Oriental, Mount Kitanglad, Mount Civolig, Mount Apo)
Forms probably a superspecies with Grey-backed Shrike and Long-tailed Shrike.
Habitat
Clearings in montane forest, open secondary growth and grassland with shrubs. Occurs between 1200m and 2400m.
Behaviour
Feeds mostly on insects, takes also extremely hard-bodied beetles.
Usually seen singly or in pairs. A rather conspicuous species, behaviour similar as that of Bull-headed Shrike.
Perches upright on exposed top of bush or tree from where it dives down on to prey.
Probably a monogamous and territorial species. Birds with enlarged gonads recorded in February, March, May and June. A pair feeding juveniles observed in mid-May. No other information about breeding.
Possibly a resident species with some local altitudinal movements.
References
- Clements, JF. 2011. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to August 2011. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/downloadable-clements-checklist
- Del Hoyo, J, A Elliott, and D Christie, eds. 2008. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 13: Penduline-tits to Shrikes. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8496553453
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Mountain Shrike. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 23 November 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Mountain_Shrike
