Magpie Shrike
Urolestes melanoleucus
Mixed woodland. Tail shorter in female. Both sexes have white wing-stripe.
Shrikes
LC
Not Endemic
Description
Common resident. A distinctive, long-tailed pied bird. Female may show white on the flanks and have a shorter tail. Immature is bronze-brown with a grey rump. From a distance could be mistaken for a widowbird [Long-tailed Widowbird] or even a whydah [Pin-tailed Whydah], [Shaft-tailed Whydah], [Long-tailed Paradise-Whydah], [Broad-tailed Paradise-Whydah]. The call is ‘prooit-preeoo, prooit-preeoo-preeoo’, the first sound descending, the second ascending. Small groups of three to 10 birds occur in thornveld and mixed bushveld, preferring lightly wooded, well-grassed regions where they hunt from a perch on a bush.
Quick Facts
Size
40-50 cm - M
Names
A: Langstertlaksman
Z: umQonqotho
G: Elsterwürger
Bird Family
Insectivorous or partially carnivorous birds with stout, hooked or slightly hooked bills. They are sometimes known as ‘butcher birds' (genus *Lanius* means ‘butcher') because of their habit of sometimes impaling insects or small animals on a thorn or fence wire, returning later to eat. Habitat preference is for open woodland, where they will still-hunt from a perch.
Distribution
Gallery
Behaviour
Breeding
Habitat
Small groups of three to 10 birds occur in thornveld and mixed bushveld, preferring lightly wooded, well-grassed regions where they hunt from a perch on a bush.
