Alternative name: Great Grey Shrike
- Lanius excubitor
Identification
22-26 cm.
Adult
- Grey head and back
- White belly, throat and chest
- Black wings with white patch
- Medium-long tail black with white outer feathers
- Black mask on face
- Distinctive stout, hooked bill
Juvenile
- Barred brown below
- Brownish wash above
Distribution
Northern Palearctic, Holarctic, and Oriental regions.
Taxonomy
Polytypic. Consists of nine subspecies.
Habitat
Upland forests and bogs.
Behaviour
Diet includes small mammals and birds and often store uneaten prey by impaling it on thorns. This habit has earned them the nickname "butcher birds." Northern Shrikes commonly hunt from a very high perch usually a tall tree top.
Vocalisation
Song
A complex and variable medley of short liquid trills, whistles, chatter and harsh notes and often mimic the calls and songs of other birds such as Blue Jays, Gray Catbirds, American Robins, and Song Sparrows.
<flashmp3>Lanius excubitor (song).mp3</flashmp3>
Listen in an external program
Call
A harsh shek-shek, grating jaaeg, rapid rasping aak...aak, a sharp metallic beek
