Bay-backed Shrike

SCI Name:  Lanius vittatus
Protonym:  Lanius vittatus Dict.Sci.Nat. 40 p.227
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Laniidae / Lanius
Taxonomy Code:  babshr1
Type Locality:  Pondichery.
Author:  Valenciennes
Publish Year:  1826
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

LANIUS
(Laniidae; Ϯ Great Grey Shrike L. excubitor) L. lanius  butcher  < laniare  to tear to pieces. The shrikes were formerly known as ‘butcher-birds,’ from their habit of storing prey by impaling it on thorns and sharp twigs, giving the resemblance to a butcher’s shambles or slaughterhouse (Mod. L. Lanius (Ray 1713) shrike, butcher-bird); “I reject the compound-name of Butcher-Bird, and retain the old English name of Shrike, from the noise” (Pennant 1773). In nomenclature lanius is used in a variety of combinations for birds with stout, hooked or toothed bills or with the general appearance of a shrike; "43. LANIUS.  Rostrum rectiusculum, dente utrinque versus apicem, basi nudum.  Lingua lacera." (Linnaeus 1758); "Lanius Linnaeus, 1758, Syst. Nat., 10th ed., 1, p. 93. Type, by subsequent designation, Lanius excubitor Linnaeus (Swainson, 1824, Zool. Journ., 1 (1825), p. 294)." (Rand in Peters 1960, IX, 342). This is the fourth diagnosed genus in avian taxonomy. Linnaeus's Lanius comprised ten species (L. cristatus, L. Excubitor, L. Collurio, L. Tyrannus, L. Carnifex, L. Schach, L. Senator, L. cærulescens, L. jocosus, L. Garrulus).   
Var. Lanii, Larius.   
Synon. Caudolanius, Cephalophoneus, Collurio, Creurgus, Enneoctonus, Fiscus, Lanioides, Leucometopon, Neolanius, Neofiscus, Otomela, Phoneus.

lanius
L. lanius  butcher  < laniare  to tear to pieces.

vittata / vittatum / vittatus
L. vittatus banded, ribboned < vitta ribbon, band.
● ex “Perroquet de St.-Domingue” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 792, “Papegai à bandeau rouge” of de Buffon 1770-1785, and “Red-banded Parrot” of Latham 1783 (Amazona).
● ex “Grey-backed Shrike” of Latham 1821 (Lanius).
● ex “Petrel bleu” of de Buffon 1770-1783, “Blue Peteril” of Cook 1777, “Vittated Petrel” of J. R. Forster 1777, 1778, and “Broad-billed Petrel” of Latham 17856 (Pachyptila).
● ex “Wreathed Tern” of Latham 1785 (Sterna).

SUBSPECIES

Bay-backed Shrike (vittatus)
SCI Name: Lanius vittatus vittatus
vittata / vittatum / vittatus
L. vittatus banded, ribboned < vitta ribbon, band.
● ex “Perroquet de St.-Domingue” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 792, “Papegai à bandeau rouge” of de Buffon 1770-1785, and “Red-banded Parrot” of Latham 1783 (Amazona).
● ex “Grey-backed Shrike” of Latham 1821 (Lanius).
● ex “Petrel bleu” of de Buffon 1770-1783, “Blue Peteril” of Cook 1777, “Vittated Petrel” of J. R. Forster 1777, 1778, and “Broad-billed Petrel” of Latham 17856 (Pachyptila).
● ex “Wreathed Tern” of Latham 1785 (Sterna).

Bay-backed Shrike (nargianus)
SCI Name: Lanius vittatus nargianus
nargianus
Baluchi name Nargiani for the Bay-backed Shrike (subsp. Lanius vittatus).