Long-tailed Shrike

Long-tailed Shrike (Lanius schach) is a large Asian shrike with a long narrow black tail, black mask and forehead, rufous back and flanks and a white wing patch. Body shape, bill structure, plumage pattern and voice provide the strongest field characters. Age, sex and season may alter its appearance, so identification should combine several features and careful direct field comparisons with similar species in the same habitat (Wikipedia, general species account).

It uses scrub, farmland and open woodland, hunting insects and small vertebrates from exposed perches and sometimes fixing prey onto thorns for storage or dismemberment. Its movements and social behaviour vary through the year, with breeding birds generally more dispersed and non-breeding birds gathering where food is concentrated. Japanese records place it within the country's documented avifauna as a resident, migrant or visitor (Wikipedia, general species account; Wildlife of Japan occurrence records).