NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Grey-backed Fiscal
Lanius excubitoroides Prévost & des Murs, 1847
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The grey-backed fiscal (Lanius excubitoroides) is a species of bird in the family Laniidae.
It is found in Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are dry savanna and subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland.
Wikipedia contributors, Grey-backed fiscal; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:12:43.855948+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Lanius excubitoroides Prévost & des Murs, 1847
- Name authority
- Prévost & des Murs, 1847
- Common name
- Grey-backed Fiscal
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Laniidae
- Genus
- Lanius
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyLaniidae Rafinesque, 1815
- genusLanius Linnaeus, 1758
- speciesLanius excubitoroides Prévost & des Murs, 1847
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Lanius. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Southern FiscalLanius collaris Linnaeus, 1766 | LaniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Red-backed ShrikeLanius collurio Linnaeus, 1758 | LaniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Northern FiscalLanius humeralis Stanley, 1814 | LaniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Mackinnon's ShrikeLanius mackinnoni Sharpe, 1891 | LaniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Iberian Grey ShrikeLanius meridionalis Temminck, 1820 | LaniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Lesser Grey ShrikeLanius minor J. F. Gmelin, 1788 | LaniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Long-tailed ShrikeLanius schach Linnaeus, 1758 | LaniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Woodchat ShrikeLanius senator Linnaeus, 1758 | LaniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Souza's ShrikeLanius souzae Barboza du Bocage, 1878 | LaniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Chinese Grey ShrikeLanius sphenocercus Cabanis, 1873 | LaniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Mountain ShrikeLanius validirostris Ogilvie-Grant, 1894 | LaniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Giant Grey ShrikeLanius giganteus Przevalski, 1887 | LaniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Des Murs, Marc Athanese Parfait Oeillet, Florent Prévost, & and Félix-édouard Guérin-Méneville. (1847). Voyage En Abyssinie Exécuté Pendant Les Années 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842, 1843 Quatrième Partie. Histoire Naturelle. - Zoologie. Vol. 6. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3S7BP. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.