From Opus

Image by Jan Bisschop
Male, Happy Island, May 2005

Photo by pohsp
Photo taken: Papan forest nursery.

Lanius tigrinus

[edit] Identification

17-19 cm. Thick blue-black bill with a black tip, grey-black legs, reddish brown back, rump and shoulders with black bars creating a tiger-like pattern. Black mask, grey crown and nape, dull brown wings and tail, white underparts. Females are duller and have a white stripe above the eye and black barring on the flanks. Young birds have dark scale-like markings and lack the grey and black on the head.

[edit] Distribution

Central and eastern China, Korea, Japan, far east Russia. It winters mainly in Malaysia and Indonesia.

[edit] Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species.

[edit] Habitat

Open woodland, forest edges and farmland with scattered trees in lowland areas.

[edit] Behaviour

The diet includes grasshoppers, crickets, beetles, bugs, butterflies and moths. Other small animals including birds and lizards are also taken. It usually hunts from a perch at the forest edge.

Both sexes build the nest on a branch in a deciduous tree. 3-6 eggs are laid, 5 being most common; they are incubated by the female for 14-16 days. The young birds fledge after about two weeks and remain close to the nest for another two weeks.

[edit] External Links