Is the Lanius escubitor a bird of prey? (1 Viewer)

Is the Lanius excubitor a bird of prey?

Hi there everybody.

This is my first thread, and I start with a question. I am used to think that birds of prey are the eagles, hawks, kestrels...but is the Lanius excubitor also a bird of prey.

I saw one of them a couple of days ago, I had never taken the time of watching them, I guess they were just another bird for me (I am new in this)

it doesn´t look like one to me, but as I have heard that they hunt mice and other birds....can it be considered as one?

We call it Alcaudón real, I think the english speaking call it Northern Shrike.

Well... thanks for the help!

Welcome to Birdforum!

It isn't a Bird of Prey within the normal meaning of the term, but yes, they do eat a lot of small birds, rodents, etc.

The bird you saw (assuming you saw it in Spain!) is Lanius meridionalis (Alcaudón Real / Southern Grey Shrike). In northern Europe (Scandinavia, etc.) there is Lanius excubitor (Alcaudón Norteño / Great Grey Shrike), and in North America, a subspecies of it Lanius excubitor borealis, which is called Northern Shrike over there (but not in Europe).

Holá Jaime,
The answer to your question is to be found in every field guide of birds which is based on the valid system of orders and families in ornithology. The scientific system is not based on the food choice of species. In fact a lot of bird species readily catch smaller animals, mice or small birds or lizards, and there are also birds of prey which hardly or never take animal food, or only animals like fishes and snails. Meat-eaters are also to be found in quite different families, like herons and storks, and crows and jays which also catch small mammals and birds, belong to the Songbirds, Passeriformes, while all Birds of prey are in the order of Falconiformes. I use these terms here, because they give at least some idea of what belongs where: Passer (in Passeriformes) is a sparrow, Falco (Falconiformes = falcon-like birds) is falcon. The Alcaudones, Shrikes, are part (a bird family) of the former group. If the species in the Songbirds do or do not sing, does not matter; the system is based on relations and comparable aspects of the anatomical structure, not on sounds nor on feeding habits.
I suggest you look up some information on the internet for more details; orders are in the traditional view of the ornithological system made up of families. In Songbirds there are some 150, in Birds of Prey a handful, so it seems better to leave that part to the written sources which you can easily consult.
Buen éxito, keep enjoying birdwatching.
Jan van der Brugge

"Bird of prey" is an informal term normally restricted to hawks and their allies, New World vultures, falcons and caracaras, and (controversially) owls. "Raptor", another informal term, is an ugly equivalent covering the same ground.

janvanderbrugge said:

[...] while all Birds of prey are in the order of Falconiformes.

Click to expand...

Not any more. At least IOC and HBW Alive (and probably most others, too) separate Accipitriformes from Falconiformes. Also, don't forget the owls

Photo

https://www.flickr.com/photos/146938535@N08/shares/4WmWRP

thanks for the answers. So it is not a bird of prey.

I have tried to upload a photo directly, but I don´t know how to do it, and I have tried to add a link to the photo I took, I hope it was correctly added.

Nutcracker said:

Welcome to Birdforum!

It isn't a Bird of Prey within the normal meaning of the term, but yes, they do eat a lot of small birds, rodents, etc.

The bird you saw (assuming you saw it in Spain!) is Lanius meridionalis (Alcaudón Real / Southern Grey Shrike). In northern Europe (Scandinavia, etc.) there is Lanius excubitor (Alcaudón Norteño / Great Grey Shrike), and in North America, a subspecies of it Lanius excubitor borealis, which is called Northern Shrike over there (but not in Europe).

Click to expand...

Thank you, yes, it is a Lanius meridionalis. I have never seen it before.

Worth adding, back in the long ago, Linnaeus did consider shrikes to be birds of prey: note AVES. ACCIPITRES. Lanius. :t: