Description:

Rather small, compact but long-tailed shrike. Compared with Isabelline, male has rufous cast to crown and nape, contrasting with darker grey-brown mantle, whiter supercilium, whiter underparts, and deeper rufous-brown tail. These features are often apparent in female and first-winter.

Distribution:

Uncommon passage migrant through central and western parts of Gilgit-Baltistan, rare in Baltistan. Usually found in patches of scrub in dry steppe, hills and barren plains; in mountains extending up to zone of juniper and almond, around 2500m.

Behavior:

Uses sit-and-wait foraging technique, utilizing a variety of lookouts, including wires, fence lines and tree branches. Most insects taken on ground. Impaling of prey not rare. Probably almost exclusively insectivorous like Isabelline Shrike. Prefers mostly beetles, crickets and grasshoppers.

Photo Gallery:

Range & Occurrence:

Resident Species

Summer Breeder

Winter Visitor

Passage Migrant

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

Seasonal Occurrence of Red-tailed 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.