Birds · Passeriformes · Laniidae

Red-backed Shrike

Lanius collurio

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

The smallest of the shrikes of the Eurasian Palaearctic. The male has an ash-grey head, a black mask and the reddish brown mantle that gives it its name; the female is brown and vermiculated. Like all shrikes it has a bulky head and a bill hooked at the tip.

Weight

25 g – 36 g

Size

16 cm – 18 cm

Diet

Carnivore

Feeds mainly on other animals.

Activity

Diurnal

Active mainly during the day.

Social structure

In pairs

Usually lives in pairs, sometimes for life.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

Carnivore Diurnal In pairs Bird

45countries 185parks2same family

Fun facts

GeneralIt impales its prey on thorns to store it, like a larder.
It impales its prey on hawthorn and blackthorn spines or on barbed wire, creating larders that it often never eats.
This has earned it the nickname 'butcher bird', and its genus, Lanius, means precisely butcher in Latin.
Although it weighs little more than thirty grams, it hunts small mammals, reptiles, amphibians and even birds and their young.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)
Habitat & environment: Thorn hedges, scrubby meadows and field margins
Gestation / incubation: 14 - 16 days of incubation
Litter / clutch size: 5-6 eggs as a rule (a range of 3 to 7), of very variable colours (white, olive, pink, ochre). A single clutch a year, in May or June

Sources consulted: SEO/BirdLife (ficha y III Atlas de las aves en época de reproducción en España); IUCN Red List; Asturnatura; Metzmacher y Van Nieuwenhuyse 2012, Terre et Vie 67; Santander Capital Natural; Monaco Nature Encyclopedia