Woodchat Shrike

SCI Name:  Lanius senator
Protonym:  Lanius senator Syst.Nat.ed.10 p.94
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Laniidae / Lanius
Taxonomy Code:  wooshr1
Type Locality:  Indiis; error, type locality restricted to the Rhine, Hartert 1907, Vog. pal. Fauna, 1, (1910), p. 434.
Author:  Linnaeus
Publish Year:  1758
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.

senator
L. senator, senatoris  senator  < senex, senis  elderly man (cf. Late L. senator  unknown bird listed by Polemius Silvius; Mod. L. senatus   sienna-brown). Turner 1544, used this word as a translation of the Gr. πρεσβυς presbus, a name for the Wren.
● “a causa del rosso baio di parte del capo, che ricorda la benda rossa che i senatori romani portavano attorno al capo” ( Moltoni in Capponi 1979); "43. LANIUS.  ...  Senator.  7. L. cauda integra, corpore supra nigro subtus albo, occipite purpureo.  Lanius rubro capite. Alb. av. 2. p. 15. t. 16.  Habitat in Indiis.  Fascia frontis & baseos alarum alba. Macula alba in remigibus." (Linnaeus 1758) (Lanius).

SUBSPECIES

Woodchat Shrike (Western)
SCI Name: Lanius senator senator
senator
L. senator, senatoris  senator  < senex, senis  elderly man (cf. Late L. senator  unknown bird listed by Polemius Silvius; Mod. L. senatus   sienna-brown). Turner 1544, used this word as a translation of the Gr. πρεσβυς presbus, a name for the Wren.
● “a causa del rosso baio di parte del capo, che ricorda la benda rossa che i senatori romani portavano attorno al capo” ( Moltoni in Capponi 1979); "43. LANIUS.  ...  Senator.  7. L. cauda integra, corpore supra nigro subtus albo, occipite purpureo.  Lanius rubro capite. Alb. av. 2. p. 15. t. 16.  Habitat in Indiis.  Fascia frontis & baseos alarum alba. Macula alba in remigibus." (Linnaeus 1758) (Lanius).

Woodchat Shrike (Balearic)
SCI Name: Lanius senator badius
badius
L. badius chestnut-coloured, brown.
● ex “Brown Hawk” of Brown 1776, and Latham 1781 (Accipiter).
● ex “Tordo del pardo-roxizo” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 63 (Agelaioides).
● ex “Port Jackson Thrush” of White 1790 (syn. Colluricincla harmonica).
● ex “Apiaster ex Franciae insula” of Brisson 1760, “Guêpier de l’île de France” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 252, “Guêpier maron et bleu” of de Buffon 1770-1783, and “Chestnut Bee-eater” of Latham 1782 (syn. Merops viridis).

Woodchat Shrike (Caucasian)
SCI Name: Lanius senator niloticus
nilotica / niloticus
L. Niloticus  of the River Nile  < Nilus  River Nile, Egypt.
● Egypt; ex Hasselqvist 1757, and “Egyptian Tern” of Latham 1785 (Gelochelidon).