Grey-backed Fiscal – Lanius excubitoroides

The grey-backed fiscal is a species of bird which belongs to the Laniidae family.

It lives in dry savanna and subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland; it is found especially in Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Mauritania and Mali.

It is a sociable bird and is often seen in pairs or small groups on tree stumps, wires and branches, engaged in wing fluttering, tail waving and noisy babble.

Lanius species name is derived from Latin meaning the butcher or flayer or seller of meat in front of its display hooks, but also priest and executioner. This name is a reference to the behavior observed in these species planting their prey – such as insects, small reptiles and even small voles or sparrows – a thorn or a sharp branch of a shrub. The impalement allows the bird to have a pantry where its prisoners dying victims.

This bird has a low to medium size, between 18 and 25 cm. The tail is quite long. The plumage differs depending on the species: it is essentially gray and brown, with more or less varied parts of white and black, sometimes bright pink or red spots. Females and juveniles are duller than males and often keep transverse stripes. Strong beak for a sparrow has particular characteristics: it appears laterally compressed and extends at its end by an indentation in the upper part down.