That name comes from the Afrikaans word fiskaal ("public official", especially a hangman), because they hang their prey on thorns for storage.

Northern or temperate species such as the great grey and red-backed shrikes are migratory and winter well south of the breeding range.

The prehistoric shrike Lanius miocaenus has been described from Early Miocene fossils found at Langy, France.

[2] The genus Lanius was introduced by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae.

[3] The type species was designated as the great grey shrike by the English naturalist William Swainson in 1824.