A number of subspecies are noted within the widely distributed range of this species. Stuart Baker in the second edition of The Fauna of British India considered "Lanius schach", "Lanius tephronotus" and "Lanius tricolor" as three species. He considered "nigriceps" as synonymous with "tricolor" and included "erythronotus" as a race of "schach". 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. Another treatment considered "tricolor" as a subspecies of "L. tephronotus". It was subsequently however noted that "tephronotus" and "schach" co-occurred in the Kumaon region and so the two were confirmed as distinct species. Molecular distances also indicate that they are distant enough. 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. A very light grey form from western dry region of India named by Walter Koelz as "kathiawarensis" is also considered merely as a variant. 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. Biswamoy Biswas supported the view that "nigriceps" (having upper mantle grey and lower mantle rufous) was a hybrid of "tricolor" and "erythronotus".