Page 361 - Complete Birds of Britain and Europe (DK - RSPB)

SHRIKES
Order Passeriformes Family Laniidae Species Lanius excubitor
Great Grey Shrike

slightly duller
bold white bar broad black band than male
on black wings through eye
cold grey upperparts
(scaly barring on
back and flanks
ADULT on juvenile)
black
tail with slight barring
white sides on flanks
IN FLIGHT

FEMALE
dull white underside
(very faint barring
on juvenile
MALE

FLIGHT: bounding, undulating; flurries of SUBSPECIES
wingbeats between glides; upward swoop to perch.
L. e. meridionalis
his is the largest European shrike, boldly (Spain, Portugal, S France)
Tpatterned in clean grey, white, and black. It can be darker
easy to find or surprisingly elusive. Like other shrikes, it above
is fond of prominent perches and can be seen at a great greyer
distance as a white dot on a bush top. It balances by or
swaying its tail and leaning forward, sometimes pinker
below
lurching at an odd angle, before diving to the ground
in a flurry of white-barred wings to catch its prey.
VOICE Dry trill and various short, hard notes; song
short, simple, squeaky notes.
NESTING Untidy grassy nest in thick bush; 5–7 eggs;
1 brood; May–July.
FEEDING Watches from perch, swoops onto small
rodents, small birds, big insects, and lizards.
REMARK Subspecies L. e. algeriensis (N Africa) is BALANCING ACT
darker above and grey below; L. e. pallidirostris (Asia, The long tail acts as a balance for
vagrant in W Europe) has pale bill, mask only behind a Great Grey Shrike perched on a
eye, and more white on wings. thin branch. OCCURRENCE
Breeds widely but very locally, in
SIMILAR SPECIES Scandinavia, across N Europe to
France, Spain, and Portugal;
LESSER GREY SHRIKE 32; black RED-BACKED no grey N European birds winter west to
see p.360 forehead SHRIKE 32;
see p.357 UK, south to N Italy. Breeds in
longer larger bill birch woods, wooded bogs; in dry,
wings brown back hotter, scrubby areas in S Europe;
in winter, on bushy, heathy, or
much larger boggy ground.
shorter MAGPIE Seen in the UK
tail see p.363 JF M A M J JA S ON D
Length 22–26cm (9–10in) Wingspan 30cm (12in) Weight 30–40g (1 1 ⁄16 –1 7 ⁄16oz)
Social Solitary Lifespan 3–5 years Status Declining
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