Birds · Passeriformes · Laniidae

Great Grey Shrike

Lanius excubitor

Least Concern

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

The great grey shrike is a predatory bird the size of a blackbird, grey with a black mask and black and white wings and tail. It hunts from raised perches and drops onto large insects, mice, lizards and other birds, which it kills with a precise bite to the nape. Its most famous habit is impaling its prey on thorns or barbed wire, forming larders that let it store food for lean days.

Weight

55 g – 80 g

Size

22 cm – 26 cm

Lifespan

12 years

Diet

Carnivore

Feeds mainly on other animals.

Activity

Diurnal

Active mainly during the day.

Social structure

Solitary

Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

Temperate forestTundraGrasslandCarnivore Diurnal Solitary Bird Temperate forest Tundra Grassland

13countries 104parks2same family

Fun facts

It impales its prey on thorn bushes and barbed wire, forming visible larders: it has no raptor's talons for holding prey while it tears at it, so it pins the prey down and pulls with its bill.
Males with larger larders attract more females: the store of impaled prey works as a display of the quality of both the territory and the hunter.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)
Habitat & environment: Open country with perches: open taiga, wooded tundra, steppe and farmland of Eurasia
Sexual maturity: 11 months
Gestation / incubation: 16 days of incubation
Litter / clutch size: 5

Sources consulted: https://www.iucnredlist.org/ | https://animaldiversity.org/ | https://es.wikipedia.org/