Turkestan Shrike (male)
Turkestan Shrike (Male breeding plumage)
Recordings 
Scientific Name 
Lanius phoenicuroides
Arabic Name 
صرد تركستان الأكحل
Kuwaiti name 
جتبي
Family 
Length 
18.0 cm
Least Concern
Kuwait Specialty
Similar species 

Information

Common passage migrant and rare winter visitor. Formerly considered a race of Daurian Shrike; distinguished from it by its darker rufous/grey colours and white underparts. One of Kuwait’s Asian specialty birds.
Where in Kuwait 
During passage it occurs in a range of habitats, but is usually found in in semi-deserts, cultivated areas, parks and inland wetlands
In the world 
It has an extremely large range with a global population that is unquantified but a population that is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats. breeds in central Asia, from Iran north to Kazakhstan, and east to China and Mongolia, with each subspecies occupying a slightly different part of the range. It has a strong, hooked, raptor-like beak which it uses to kill its prey and are are also known as ‘butcher-birds’ after their habit of impaling prey on spikes and thorns
Local threats 
Indiscriminate shooting and pesticides