Tiger Shrike showing grey crown – Photograph by Tisa Mukherjee
Tiger Shrike showing grey crown and upper mantle, barred rufous-brown back, thick bill, pale lores, and pale supercilium.
A Tiger Shrike Lanius tigrinus from Bakkhali, West Bengal – A new species for India
On a sunny morning on 14 May, 2024, at Kargil Beach (21.571°N, 88.201°E), Bakkhali, South 24 Parganas, West Bengal, I set out with hopes of capturing some striking photographs of waders in their breeding plumage, such as the Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres, Tibetan Sand-Plover A. atrifrons, and Greater SandPlover A. leschenaulti, among others. Amidst my observations,a particularly agile passerine caught my eyes. I took several photos, initially believing it to be a Brown Shrike Lanius cristatus.However, upon reviewing the photographs at home, I began to suspect my identification. For clarity, I sent the images to Ashwin Viswanathan and Kanad Baidya. Based on discussion with others, the bird was identified as a female Tiger Shrike L. tigrinus.TME INaings in DoLn vvest Bengai anu bnutan suggest ma the species is likely to be discovered again in the eastern Indian subcontinent. This record in May perfectly matches the timing of the return migration of Tiger Shrike to its breeding ground, and an odd individual could have strayed to India. However, the July sighting from Bhutan at such a high altitude is intriguing, as the bird should have been breeding by then, much further north.My acknowledgements to Ashwin Viswanathan, Kanad Baidya, Santanab Majumder, Santanu Manna, Kshounish Sankar Ray, Shubhankar Patra, and an anonymous referee for all the information and support.
References
Rinchen, K. & Koirala, B. K.,2022. First record of Tiger shrike Lanius tigrinus Drapiez, 1828 (Aves: Passeriformes: Laniidae) from Bhutan. Journal ofAnimal Diversity 4 (4): 12-14. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.52547/JAD.2022.4.4.2. Yosef, R., ISWG International Shrike Working Group, & de Juana, E. 2020. Tiger Shrike (Lanius tigrinus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology,
Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.tigshr1.01
