What methods are there to identify male and female Red-tailed Shrikes?

The Red-tailed Shrike is a common bird in our country. Although it has a fierce temperament and not gorgeous plumage, its singing voice is very pleasant, so it is often kept on a perch. So how do you distinguish male from female Red-tailed Shrikes?

1. How do you distinguish male from female Red-tailed Shrikes?

There are three ways to distinguish male from female Red-tailed Shrikes. The first is to look at the brown color. Generally, the brown of male Red-tailed Shrikes is more prominent, while that of females is pale. The second is to look at the eye stripe. Generally, the eye stripe of male Red-tailed Shrikes is black, while that of females is blackish brown. The third is to listen to the call. Generally, the call of male Red-tailed Shrikes is louder and more resounding, while the call of females is not very loud. But under normal circumstances, Red-tailed Shrikes do not call loudly, so the first two methods are mostly used to distinguish them.

2. Why do Red-tailed Shrikes not call loudly?

Red-tailed Shrikes do not call loudly because their growth is not very good. If you can feed them a little food used for Red-throated Larks (that is, mung bean flour, corn flour, cooked egg yolk, freshwater fish meal or silkworm pupa powder mixed evenly in a 5:2:2:1 ratio) to feed the young birds, it can improve quickly. In addition, the feed flour (bean flour, corn flour) should be as fine as possible, because coarse residue will be kneaded into balls in the shrike's stomach and then spat out, having a “scraping oil” effect that makes the bird gradually become thinner. Because shrikes do not have the ability to digest cellulose, it is best to include fresh meat in the feed.

Overall, Red-tailed Shrikes are still quite easy to distinguish as male or female. Specifically, they can be distinguished from the two points of brown color and eye stripe. If you do not know how, you can refer to the methods above.