Description:

Rather small shrike with fairly short wings and longish tail. Male has rufous mantle, pink underparts, and white sides to tail. No black forehead or white in wing. Female has grey cast to head and especially nape, contrasting slightly with rufous-brown mantle, and dark brown tail with white outer edge.

Distribution:

Uncommon passage migrant through Hunza and Nagar districts of Gilgit-Baltistan. Requires dry country or sloping terrain with scattered bushes, shrubs or low trees, also cultivation edges with perching spots. Rarely above 2500m.

Behavior:

Most prey located from exposed, usually low perch, by sit-and-wait strategy. Large moving insects spotted up to 30 m away, and caught in bill after shallow direct glide. Opportunistic, taking mainly insects, especially beetles, also other invertebrates; also small mammals, mostly voles, birds, and reptiles; at end of summer and in autumn diet sometimes complemented by berries.

Photo Gallery:

Range & Occurrence:

Resident Species

Summer Breeder

Winter Visitor

Passage Migrant

Distribution Map of Red-backed Shrike in Gilgit-Baltistan (Status: )

Seasonal Occurrence of Red-backed Shrike

Resources:

Birds of Pakistan: Helm Field Guides (R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
The Birds of Pakistan (T. J. Roberts)
Birds of the Indian Subcontinent (C. Inskipp, R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide (P. Rasmussen & J. Anderton)
Birds of India: Collins Field Guide (N. Arlott)
Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan (S. Ali & S. D. Ripley)
Handbook of the Birds of the World (https://www.hbw.com)
The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, 6th Edition
iNaturalist BoGB (inaturalist.org/projects/birds-of-gilgit-baltistan)
Birds of Gilgit-Baltistan (http://fb.me/birdsgb)

*Gallery images on this page are shared from flickr.com, and are copyrighted to their respective creators or owners.