Common Fiscal ( Lanius collaris, family: Laniidae)

Birds & Birding in the Kruger National Park South Africa. In Roberts 6 this bird was called Fiscal Shrike

commom fiscal kruger national park birds The Common Fiscal (Latin name Lanius collaris) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 732 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 728 also a picture of the Common Fiscal on page 752. The Common Fiscal belongs to the family of birds classified as Laniidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the Common Fiscal is also known by these other names: Common Fiscal Shrike, Fiscal.

In the previous edition of Roberts (ie 6th edition) the Common Fiscal was called the Fiscal Shrike

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The Common Fiscal is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.

In terms of distribution of the Common Fiscal in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Common Fiscal has been recorded in only 1 sections of the arbitrary Kruger Park regions I selected.

Common Fiscal Shrike Kruger ParkIdentification assistance for this avian species ...

The Common Fiscal is a smallish bird but somewhat larger than a house sparrow. The height of the Common Fiscal is about 23 cms and its weight is about 40 gms

You will find that the male Common Fiscal plumage and colours are different to that of the female Common Fiscal

  • Head is black.
  • Eye is brown.
  • Bill is black.
  • Throat is white.
  • Back is blue, grey.
  • Legs are black.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Common Fiscal feeds on the ground mainly

Other Birds

Invertebrates

Fruits

Seeds

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Common Fiscal is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Lanius collaris will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of Common Fiscal is to create the nest in branches of a tree or shrub. The bird lays eggs which are green, cream in colour and number between 1 to 5

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Common Fiscal are: woodlands

You will not see Common Fiscal in flocks. The bird prefers to act singly or in pairs.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Inxanxadi/Umxhomi

Zulu ... iLunga/iQola

Afrikaans ...Fiskaallaksman

German ... Fiskalwrger

Portuguese ... Picano-fiscal

French ... Pie-griche fiscale

Dutch ... Gekraagde Klauwier

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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 732

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za