It is considered to form a superspecies with the grey-backed shrike (Lanius tephronotus) which breeds on the Tibetan Plateau.

The long-tailed shrike was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Lanius schach.

Linnaeus cited the description that the Swedish explorer Pehr Osbeck had included in the account of his stay in China.

Other treatments were proposed by Hugh Whistler and N B Kinnear where tephronotus was considered a subspecies of schach and nigriceps and nasutus grouped together.

[8] It was subsequently however noted that tephronotus and schach co-occurred in the Kumaon region and so the two were confirmed as distinct species.

[9] The erythronotus group have a grey head which continues into the back with a gradual suffusion of rufous.

The westernmost population from Transcaspia named by Sergei Buturlin as jaxartensis and said to be larger, is not considered valid.

[10] A very light grey form from western dry region of India named by Walter Koelz as kathiawarensis is also considered merely as a variant.

[11] In southern India and Sri Lanka, subspecies caniceps, is marked by the rufous restricted to the rump, light crown and the pure grey on the back.

The bay-backed shrike is smaller and more contrastingly patterned and has a more prominent white patch on the wing.

Many of the temperate zone populations are migratory, moving south in winter while those in the tropics tend to be sedentary although they may make short distance movements.

[19] This species is a rare vagrant to western Europe on the strength of two accepted records in Great Britain on South Uist in November 2000[20] and the Netherlands near Den Helder in October 2011.

The nest is a deep and loose cup made up of thorny twigs, rags and hair.