White-Tailed Shrike

Scientific name Lanioturdus torquatus Afrikaans name Kortstertlaksman

- Koos Pieters

Many people with a limited interest in birds probably know about three or four different species – like finches, doves, sparrows and falcons – and most of the birds that they come across probably fall into one of their known categories.

My personal knowledge of birds was much the same for far too long, and I often wish that I’d shown greater awareness earlier in my life. So many opportunities were lost on earlier travels simply because I had no interest in the subject. But, despite this initial foolishness, there was one bird that I knew about, and liked, and respected for its bold character and aggressiveness. That was the common fiscal.

When this active hunter flies into your garden, all the other birds go into defence mode, and they mob together with a cacophony of bird calls to try and persuade this much-feared shrike to go away. So, fairly early in my birding life, I learned to pay attention when one of them crossed my way. What I didn’t know was that the common fiscal is only one of several other equally interesting species of shrikes. And it was only after I started taking birds seriously that I discovered a handful of other shrikes.