Lanius

Woodchat shrike Lanius senator, photographed by Lior Kislev.

Belongs within: Corvoidea.

The genus Lanius contains the northern shrikes of Eurasia, Africa and North America. Shrikes are predatory passerines with sharply hooked bills that feed on insects and small vertebrates, and are known for their habit of caching prey by pinning it on thorns.

<==Lanius Linnaeus 1758 M02
    |--L. bucephalus VP89
    |--L. collaris JF06
    |--L. collurio Linnaeus 1758 [incl. L. brachyuros Brehm 1842, L. brachiuros, L. gracilis Brehm 1842] L03
    |--L. collurioides VP89
    |--L. cristatus S89
    |    |--L. c. cristatus VP89
    |    `--L. c. lucionensis VP89
    |--L. erythronotus B66
    |--L. excubitor Linnaeus 1758 [incl. L. major Brehm 1831 nec Gmelin 1788 nec Pallas 1831, L. rapax Brehm 1854] L03
    |--L. excubitorides Swainson 1831 L03
    |--L. excubitoroides [=L. excubitorius] L03
    |    |--L. e. excubitoroides L03
    |    `--L. e. intercedens Neumann 1905 [=L. excubitorius intercedens] L03
    |--L. gubernator Hartlaub 1882 L03
    |--L. isabellinus Ehrenberg 1833 [incl. L. ruficaudus Brehm 1857, L. collurio speculigerus Taczanowski 1874] L03
    |--L. ludovicianus L03
    |    |--L. l. ludovicianus L03
    |    `--L. l. mexicanus Brehm 1854 L03
    |--L. meridionalis L03
    |    |--L. m. meridionalis L03
    |    |--L. m. leucopygos Ehrenberg 1833 [incl. L. leuconotus Brehm & Brehm in Brehm 1854] L03
    |    `--L. m. pallidirostris Cassin 1854 [incl. L. assimilis Brehm & Brehm in Brehm 1854] L03
    |--L. minor Gmelin 1788 [incl. L. graecus Brehm 1855] L03
    |--L. miocaenus Milne-Edwards 1871 M02
    |--L. nasutus S89
    |--L. schach Linnaeus 1758 L03
    |    |--L. s. scach [incl. L. s. hainanus Birckhead 1937] L03
    |    `--L. s. caniceps Blyth 1846 [incl. L. s. kathiawarensis Koelz 1950] L03
    |--L. senator L03
    |    |--L. s. senator L03
    |    `--L. s. niloticus (Bonaparte 1853) [incl. L. paradoxus Brehm 1854] L03
    |--L. somalicus Hartlaub 1859 [incl. L. antinorii mauritii Neumann 1907] L03
    |--L. souzae L03
    |    |--L. s. souzae L03
    |    `--L. s. burigi Chapin 1950 L03
    |--L. sphenocercus VP89
    |--L. tephronotus L03
    |    |--L. t. tephronotus L03
    |    `--L. t. lahulensis Koelz 1950 [incl. Collurio jounotus Hodgson 1844 (n. n.)] L03
    |--L. tigrinus VP89
    |--L. validirostris L03
    |    |--L. v. validirostris L03
    |    `--L. v. tertius Salomonsen 1953 L03
    `--L. vittatus L03
         |--L. v. vittatus L03
         `--L. v. nargianus Vaurie 1955 L03

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[B66] Bulger, G. E. 1866. List of birds observed at Wellington, Neilgherry Hills, about 6000 feet above the level of the sea, during the months of April and May, 1866. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 568-571.

[JF06] Jønsson, K. A., & J. Fjeldså. 2006. A phylogenetic supertree of oscine passerine birds. Zoologica Scripta 35: 149-186.

[L03] LeCroy, M. 2003. Type specimens of birds in the American Museum of Natural History. Part 5. Passeriformes: Alaudidae, Hirundinidae, Motacillidae, Campephagidae, Pycnonotidae, Irenidae, Laniidae, Vangidae, Bombycillidae, Dulidae, Cinclidae, Troglodytidae, and Mimidae. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 278: 1-156.

[M02] Mlíkovský, J. 2002. Cenozoic Birds of the World. Part 1: Europe. Ninox Press: Praha.

[S89] Salvadori, T. 1889. Viaggio di Leonardo Fea nella Birmania e nelle regioni vicine. XIX. – Uccelli raccolti nei Monti Carin a nord-est di Tounghoo, nel Pegù presso Rangoon e Tounghoo e nel Tenasserim presso Malewoon. Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova, Serie 2a 7: 369-438.

[VP89] Viney, C., & K. Phillipps. 1989. Birds of Hong Kong 5^th ed. Government Printer: Hong Kong.