Also known as the Butcher Bird from its practice of impaling prey on barbed wire or thorns to create a 'larder', the great grey shrike is the largest of the European shrikes. Small numbers come to the UK in autumn and spend the winter here. They are very territorial so you're unlikely to see more than one at once. Shrikes are often 'mobbed' by other birds which recognise them as dangerous predators. Keep an eye out for a medium-sized, long-tailed bird sitting at the top of a tree. The black mask and grey plumage are distinctive.
Key ID Features:
The largest European shrike with an overall grey appearance, paler below.
Both sexes are boldly punctuated with black wings, black, white edged tail and a striking black mask separating the blue-grey cap from the white chin.
Bold white wing bars are evident, particularly in flight.
Hunts from its claimed perch which it guards territorially, sometimes hovering.
Overview
Scientific name: Lanius excubitor.
Family: Shrikes (Laniidae)
Where to see them:
Great grey shrikes visit open areas, including heathland, farmland, scrub, clear-felled areas of forestry and coastal dunes. They need to have perches from which to hunt, so they often sit on fenceposts and high up in trees.
Seen in UK:
Great grey shrikes are regular but scarce visitors to the UK. They arrive, on the east coast at first, in autumn and many stay throughout winter and into spring (sometimes as late as April or May), when they migrate back to their breeding grounds in Scandinavia.
What they eat
Beetles and other insects, small mammals and birds. Food is often stored in a 'larder' by impaling it on a thorn!
Text (c) RSPB, used with permission
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Location: Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire
Photographer: Tim Tapley
