Lanius tephronotus
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week ~90%
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 30% of wildlife watchers report a Grey-backed Shrike sighting in Manas National Park on a given day, based on 527 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 31st most-seen of the 377 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February
In that month about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Grey-backed Shrike in Manas National Park on a given day, against about 10% in May and June, the lowest months. That is one of Manas National Park's driest months, with about 40 mm of rain against 1070 mm in June.
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.
3rd of 12
Of the 12 parks where we can rate Grey-backed Shrike sightings, Manas National Park ranks 3rd at about 30%. The best odds are in Kaziranga National Park (India, about 50%) and Jiuzhaigou National Park (China, about 40%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Lanius
The closest relatives of the Grey-backed Shrike that you can see in Manas National Park (genus Lanius, Typical Shrikes) are Long-tailed Shrike (about 40%) and Brown Shrike (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Grey-backed Shrike is recorded against all the birds logged in Manas National Park (527 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
