Lanius tephronotus
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~80%
The grey-backed shrike (Lanius tephronotus) is a bird in the family Laniidae inhabiting South-east Asia. The grey-backed shrike was first described in 1831 by Nicholas Aylward Vigors as L. tephronotus collected near Darjeeling, India. It is closely allied with L. schach, and formerly treated as conspecific, but differs in morphology; moreover, the two species are largely sympatric and, although race lahulensis sometimes considered to represent a hybrid population between them, there is no definite proof of interbreeding.
The species is 21–25 cm long and weighs 39-54 g. It is a shrike with long tail. The nominate race has black lowermost forehead (just over base of bill) and facial mask through lores and eye to rear ear-coverts; crown to nape and most of upperparts dark grey, small rufous rump patch; upperwing black, most wing-coverts, secondaries and tertials fringed pale rufous to whitish, sometimes tiny white patch at base of primaries (often lacking); tail chestnut-brown, tipped buffish, outermost pair of rectrices light brown; throat and undertail brownish-grey... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kaziranga National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Jiuzhaigou National Park | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 3 | Manas National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Royal Manas National Park | 🇧🇹 Bhutan | |
| 5 | Chitwan National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 6 | Namdapha National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Langtang National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 8 | Khao Yai National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 9 | Doi Inthanon National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 10 | Royal Bardia National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 11 | Cuc Phuong National Park | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 12 | Jim Corbett National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Grey-backed Shrike sighting in Kathmandu on a given day, based on 1,291 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 28th most-seen of the 312 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October to February
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Grey-backed Shrike in Kathmandu on a given day, against under 5% in May to August, the lowest months. Those are among Kathmandu's driest months, with about 15 mm of rain a month against 280 mm in July.
Between 2 and 5 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Grey-backed Shrike sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
2nd of 8
Of the 8 cities where we can rate Grey-backed Shrike sightings, Kathmandu ranks 2nd at about 20%. The best odds are in Xining (China, about 30%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Grey-backed Shrike is recorded against all the birds logged in Kathmandu (1,291 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
