From Opus

Photo by dineshagg
Bharatpur, India, December 2005

Lanius vittatus

[edit] Identification

17cm

• Chestnut-brown above
• Grey crown and nape
• Small white wing patch
• Black mask through the eye
• Pale rump
• White underparts
• Buff flanks
• Long, white-edged black tail
• Dark grey bill and legs
  

Sexes similar
Juveniles paler versions of adults

[edit] Distribution

Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, and has recently been recorded from Sri Lanka(Citation needed)</sup>.

[edit] Taxonomy

[edit] Subspecies^[1]

Polytypic. Consists of two subspecies.

• L. v. vittatus:

• Pakistan (Indus Plains) to western Bengal and southern India (except for south-west)

• L. v. nargianus:

• South-eastern Iran, southern Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Baluchistan and Pakistan

[edit] Habitat

Scrubby areas, open bushland, thorn forests and cultivation.

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Diet

The diet includes lizards, large insects, small birds and rodents.

[edit] Breeding

Three to five eggs are laid.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist.
2. Wikipedia

• List of references

[edit] External Links