Shrikes (/ʃraɪk/) are passerine birds of the family Laniidae. The family is composed of thirty-one species in four genera. The family name, and that of the largest genus, Lanius, is derived from the Latin word for "butcher", and some shrikes are also known as "butcher birds" because of their feeding habits. The common English name is evocative of the bird's shrill call. They are fairly closely related to the bush-shrike family Malaconotidae.