One of the 3 shrikes on WAnimals
Birds · Passeriformes · Laniidae
Woodchat Shrike
Lanius senator
Least Concern
The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk.
The woodchat shrike is a predatory bird of the Mediterranean countryside, the male showing a striking chestnut cap, a black mask and a black back with large white patches. It hunts large insects from perches and impales them on thorn bushes to form larders. It is a trans-Saharan migrant that breeds in Spain and spends the winter in tropical Africa. Its European population has been in decline for decades because of the loss of insects and of mixed farmland.
Weight
30 g – 45 g
Size
17 cm – 19 cm
Life expectancy
9 years
