Shrikes (Laniidae)

Brown Shrike (Lanius cristatus) - HBW 13, p. 777

French: Pie-grièche brune German: Braunwürger Spanish: Alcaudón Pardo
Other common names: Red-tailed Shrike; Japanese Shrike (superciliosus); Philippine Shrike (lucionensis)

Taxonomy: Lanius cristatus Linnaeus, 1758, Bengal, India.
Thought to form a superspecies with L. collurio and L. isabellinus; has in the past been considered conspecific with one or both of those, but recent genetic analyses support treatment as separate species. Occasional hybridization with L. collurio recorded in C Asia. Geographical variation partially clinal; race confusus poorly differentiated, intergrades with nominate and perhaps better merged with it. Four subspecies currently recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

cristatus Linnaeus, 1758 - breeds C & E Siberia S to N Mongolia, L Baikal area, N Sakhalin and W Kamchatka; non-breeding C & S India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar (mainly coast) and Malay Peninsula.
confusus Stegmann, 1929 - breeds E Mongolia, SE Russia (SE Transbaikalia E to Amurland and Ussuriland) and Manchuria; non-breeding S Malay Peninsula and Sumatra.
superciliosus Latham, 1801 - breeds S Sakhalin I, S Kuril Is and N & C Japan (Hokkaido, N & C Honshu); non-breeding mainly coastal S China, Hainan, NE & E Indochina, Sumatra, Java and W Lesser Sundas.
lucionensis Linnaeus, 1766 - breeds E China, Korea and S Japan (Kyushu); non-breeding mainly coastal SE China, Taiwan, Philippines, N Borneo and N Sulawesi.