Lanius cristatus
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%
The brown shrike (Lanius cristatus) is a bird in the shrike family that is found mainly in Asia. It is closely related to the red-backed shrike (L. collurio) and isabelline shrike (L. isabellinus). The genus name, Lanius, is derived from the Latin word for "butcher", and some shrikes are also known as "butcher birds" because of their feeding habits. The specific cristatus is Latin for "crested", used in a broader sense than in English. The common English name "shrike" is from Old English scríc, "shriek", referring to the shrill call.
Like most other shrikes, it has a distinctive black "bandit-mask" through the eye and is found mainly in open scrub habitats, where it perches on the tops of thorny bushes in search of prey. Several populations of this widespread species form distinctive subspecies which breed in temperate Asia and migrate to their winter quarters in tropical Asia. They are sometimes found as vagrants in Europe and North America.
In 1747 the English naturalist George Edwards included an illustration and a description of the brown shrike in the second volume of his A Natural History of Uncommon Birds. He used the English name "The Crested Red, or Russit Butcher... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manila | 🇵🇭 Philippines | |
| 2 | Kaohsiung | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | |
| 3 | Davao City | 🇵🇭 Philippines | |
| 4 | Cebu City | 🇵🇭 Philippines | |
| 5 | Taichung | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | |
| 6 | Tainan | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | |
| 7 | Asansol | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Angeles | 🇵🇭 Philippines | |
| 9 | Tamluk | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 10 | Phnom Penh | 🇰🇭 Cambodia |
Likely
About 50% of wildlife watchers report a Brown Shrike sighting in Udawalawe National Park on a given day, based on 305 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 23rd most-seen of the 166 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 90%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
November to January
In those months about 70% of wildlife watchers report a Brown Shrike in Udawalawe National Park on a given day, against about 10% in July, the lowest month.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Brown Shrike sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 37 parks where we can rate Brown Shrike sightings, Udawalawe National Park has the highest daily chance: about 50%. Next come Yala National Park (Sri Lanka, about 50%) and Wilpattu National Park (Sri Lanka, about 30%). All parks ranked.
Same order: Passeriformes
The closest relatives of the Brown Shrike that you can see in Udawalawe National Park (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Indian Robin (about 70%), Yellow-billed Babbler (about 70%) and White-browed Fantail (about 70%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Brown Shrike is recorded against all the birds logged in Udawalawe National Park (305 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.
