Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 February 2026 | 18(2): 28436–28437

 

ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) 

https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.10269.18.2.28436-28437

#10269 | Received 23 November 2025 | Final received 05 February 2026 | Finally accepted 06 February 2026

 

 

Sighting of vagrant Red-backed Shrike Lanius collurio in the coastal areas of Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu, India

 

Kishore Muthu 1, Anand Shibu 2 &

 

1, 2, 3 Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (South India Centre of Wildlife Institute of India), Anaikatty, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 641108, India.

1 kishoreak1999@gmail.com,   2 anandshibu12@gmail.com, 3 sanbabs@gmail.com (corresponding author)

 

 

Editor: H. Byju, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.  Date of publication: 26 February 2026 (online & print)

 

Citation: Muthu, K., A. Shibu & S. Babu (2026). Sighting of vagrant Red-backed Shrike Lanius collurio in the coastal areas of Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 18(2): 28436–28437. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.10269.18.2.28436-28437

  

Copyright: © Muthu et al. 2026. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publication.

 

Funding: The Tamil Nadu State Land Use Research Board (TNSLURB), State Planning Commission.

 

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

 

Acknowledgements: We thank the Tamil Nadu State Land Use Research Board (TNSLURB) for the financial support. The authors thank the director, dean, registrar, and head of office at WII-SACON for administrative support.

 

 

 

Shrikes (genus Lanius) are medium-sized passerines known for their distinctive predatory behaviour. India has 14 species of shrikes, comprising resident, migratory, and vagrant species (Lefranc & Worfolk 2013; Praveen & Jayapal 2025). The resident shrikes are the Long-tailed Shrike Lanius schach, Bay-backed Shrike Lanius vittatus, Grey-backed Shrike Lanius tephronotus, and Great Grey Shrike Lanius excubitor lahtore. The winter migrants to the country are Brown Shrike Lanius cristatus, Isabelline Shrike Lanius isabellinus, and Burmese Shrike Lanius collurioides. Vagrants such as the Red-backed Shrike Lanius collurio, Lesser Grey Shrike Lanius minor, Masked Shrike Lanius nubicus, Tiger Shrike Lanius tigrinus, Red-tailed Shrike Lanius phoenicuroides, Woodchat Shrike Lanius senator, and Giant Shrike Lanius giganteus are occasionally recorded. In Peninsular India, the Long-tailed Shrike, Bay-backed Shrike, Brown Shrike, and Isabelline Shrike are commonly recorded, while the Red-backed Shrike is a vagrant to peninsular India.

As part of a bird survey, we have been surveying wetland and terrestrial habitats within the coastal zones of Tamil Nadu State for both migratory and resident birds. We included terrestrial habitats (e.g., shrubs and mixed woodlands) because they often support passerine passage migrants that winter in Sri Lanka. During one such survey in the Thoothukudi District, we encountered a shrike near the Periyasamy Puram salt pan (9.071° N, 78.322° E) on 02 November 2025. It exhibited some distinctive plumage patterns compared to other shrike species common to this site. Therefore, a series of photos was taken using a NIKON D7200 for further identification. Upon careful examination of the photographs and field notes, we confirmed the shrike’s identity as a Red-backed Shrike Lanius collurio based on unique plumage characteristics. The same individual was observed at the same location on 06 November, confirming that this vagrant had remained in the area for at least four days.

The key identification features of an adult male are a grey crown, a bold black mask, a bright chestnut back, and a grey rump, along with a distinctive tail pattern characterized by white bases that form a “T” shape in flight. The Red-backed Shrike is a long-distance migratory bird, which primarily uses the Eastern Mediterranean–Middle Eastern–East African flyway (BirdLife International 2024). It breeds across the Palearctic region, including most of Europe, and winters in southern and eastern Africa (Lefranc  & Worfolk 2013; Yosef et al. 2020).

Apart from the present sightings, there is one previous sighting record of this species from Tamil Nadu, observed in 2023 at the Point Calimere Wildlife Sanctuary, Nagapattinam (Haemoglobin 2023). Furthermore, several observations of the species were recorded in Adayar, Chennai, during December 2025 and have been submitted to eBird (e.g., Kesavan 2025). Along its broader migratory route, it is reported in the northwestern part of the country. A substantial number of sighting reports are available on eBird from Gujarat, with a few scattered sightings from Rajasthan and Maharashtra (eBird 2025). Most of these records were reported between August and November. However, due to the limited sighting records from this region, the species is considered a vagrant in southern India. Continuous monitoring of wetland and terrestrial habitats of the East Coast of Tamil Nadu areas may shed more light on several passage migrants and vagrants to India.

 

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References

 

BirdLife International (2024). Species factsheet: Red-backed Shrike Lanius collurio. https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/red-backed-shrike-lanius-collurio. Downloaded on 21.xi.2025

eBird (2025). An online database of bird distribution and abundance. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY. https://ebird.org. Accessed on 17.xi.2025.

Haemoglobin, D. (2023). eBird Checklist. https://ebird.org/checklist/S152479957. Accessed on 17.xi.2025.

Lefranc, N. & T. Worfolk (2013). Shrikes: A Guide to the Shrikes of the World. Christopher Helm, 192 pp.

Praveen J. & R. Jayapal (2025). Checklist of the birds of India (v9.1). http://www.indianbirds.in/india/. Accessed on 17.xi.2025.

Kesavan, R. (2025). eBird Checklist. https://ebird.org/checklist/S287440550. Accessed on 05.ii.2026.

Yosef, R., International Shrike Working Group & D.A. Christie (2020). Red-backed Shrike (Lanius collurio), version 1.0. In: del Hoyo, J., A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D.A. Christie & E. de Juana (eds.). Birds of the World. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.rebshr1.01. Accessed on 17.xi.2025.