The genus Lanius includes birds in the shrike family Laniidae. Lanius comes from the Latin word for "butcher" and some shrikes are known as butcher birds because of the way they feed. The English name "shrike" is from Old English scric, "shriek", referring to the shrill call. Some African species are known as fiscals which comes from the Afrikaans word fiskaal ("public official", especially a hangman), because they hang their prey on thorns for storage.
The gray-backed fiscal is a large shrike. The male has a gray crown and upperparts; a white supercilium, underparts and the base of the underside of the tail; a black mask, blackish wings, and a black tip on the tail. The female is similar, but has patches of chestnut on the flanks that are visible during display and preening.
We saw them in Murchison Falls NP and Kidepo Valley NP. It is a handsome bird that we saw many of in Kidepo Valley NP.
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| In Murchison Falls NP, Uganda. |
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| This photo and the remaining photos were taken in Kidepo Valley NP in northeastern Uganda. |
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| Illustration from Birds of the World. |
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| Range from Birds of the World. Orange is breeding and blue/gray is year-round. |
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