Great grey shrike in suburban Bromsgrove? Really? (1 Viewer)

[Steve Gill]

Can anyone help shed any light on this?:

My father, who is retired and spends a lot of time at home in Bromsgrove told me of a pair of birds he saw in the garden. He said he'd seen some "shikes". "Shrikes", Mum corrected him. I was immediately sceptical and tried to think what else it could be. Basically, he'd looked through the RSPB book of British birds and that was the only thing that looked anything like what he'd seen.

Dad described them as follows: About the same size as a blackbird, mainly grey with black wings and a black tail. They were quite aggressive and were trying to chase the wood pigeons away.

Could this really be a pair of GGS in a Bromsgrove garden?? I'm struggling to believe they were, but I'm at a loss to think what else it could have been from his description. Any other reports of GGS in Worcestershire?

 

[midlands birder]

Can anyone help shed any light on this?:

My father, who is retired and spends a lot of time at home in Bromsgrove told me of a pair of birds he saw in the garden. He said he'd seen some "shikes". "Shrikes", Mum corrected him. I was immediately sceptical and tried to think what else it could be. Basically, he'd looked through the RSPB book of British birds and that was the only thing that looked anything like what he'd seen.

Dad described them as follows: About the same size as a blackbird, mainly grey with black wings and a black tail. They were quite aggressive and were trying to chase the wood pigeons away.

Could this really be a pair of GGS in a Bromsgrove garden?? I'm struggling to believe they were, but I'm at a loss to think what else it could have been from his description. Any other reports of GGS in Worcestershire?

As far as i am aware, there are no GGS in Worcs at all this winter, and very few in the wider WMBC area, there are a few birders in Bromsgrove, so may be worth passing on the info so someone can check it out, but two together sounds very unlikely
MB

 

[Steve Gill]

That's what I thought. What could they have been though?

 

[Brian Stretch]

It's been a poor winter for Great Grey Shrikes and only three are known to be wintering in the Midlands: singles in Derbys, Staffs and Oxon.

They are usually solitary during the winter months so for two be present in a suburban garden seems highly unlikely.

From the description of behaviour, they sound more like Magpies. They are described as black and grey but no mention of white in the plumage?

Brian
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Birding Today

 

[Phil Carter]

I had someone describe something similar recently that they thought was G G Shrike, turned out to be a Fieldfares. Possible in this case?

Phil

 

[Steve Gill]

I'm sure my father would recognise magpies. He's au fait with most common birds, but this was something he didn't recognise. He was also adamant on the size - about the same as a blackbird.

 

[Brian Stretch]

I'm sure my father would recognise magpies. He's au fait with most common birds, but this was something he didn't recognise. He was also adamant on the size - about the same as a blackbird.

Size wise sounds too small for Magpies but struggling to think of anything else chasing off Woodpigeons. Can't imagine shrikes bothering to do that.
I guess they could have been some escaped species from captivity maybe.

Brian
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Birding Today

 

[Brian Stretch]

I had someone describe something similar recently that they thought was G G Shrike, turned out to be a Fieldfares. Possible in this case?

Phil

Fieldfares certainly do confuse people when they turn up in gardens during cold snaps. When I was county recorder, one lady was certain she had seen a Black-throated Thrush in her garden. When I asked for a picture it was a well marked Fieldfare.

And they are of course aggressive to other birds when defending fruit and berries.

Brian
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Birding Today

 

[Steve Gill]

I had someone describe something similar recently that they thought was G G Shrike, turned out to be a Fieldfares. Possible in this case?

Ah, that was my first thought because of the grey head. But when I showed him a picture he said no, there wasn't any brown on them.