A common black-and-white shrike of open country that perches upright. Singles and pairs are conspicuous on perches 1 to 10 meters above the ground in grassland, light and dense woodland, savanna, and modified habitats. They perch for extended periods and swoop down on insects and small vertebrates that they catch on the ground; these are sometimes impaled on thorns and stored for later consumption. The underparts of the similar Northern Fiscal are cleaner and whiter than the dingy gray underparts of the Southern Fiscal.