Great grey shrike
Great grey shrike | |
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prey propped up on a thorn
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Laniidae |
Genus: | Lanius |
Species: | L. excubitor
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Binomial name | |
Lanius excubitor | |
Subspecies | |
See text | |
Native range of L. excubitor, Resident in red, breeding in yellow, non-breeding in green, and passage migrant in blue. |
The great grey shrike (Lanius excubitor) is a large and
Breeding takes place generally north of
making up over half its diet.Taxonomy and systematics
The species was first
Linnaeus' binomial name replaced the cumbersome and confusing descriptive names of the earlier
The scientific name of the great grey shrike literally means "sentinel butcher": Lanius is the Latin term for a butcher, while excubitor is Latin for a watchman or sentinel.[5] This refers to the birds' two most conspicuous behaviours – storing food animals by impaling them on thorns, and using exposed tree-tops or poles to watch the surrounding area for possible prey. Use of the former by Conrad Gessner established the quasi-scientific term lanius for the shrikes. Linnaeus chose his specific name because the species "observes approaching hawks and announces [the presence] of songbirds"[6] as he put it. This habit was also put to use in falconry, as fancifully recorded by William Yarrell later.[7] The common English name "shrike" is from Old English scríc, "shriek", referring to the shrill call.[8]
Vernacular names
A
The "grey shrike" is also sometimes named "gray shrike."[11]
Relationships and evolution
The shrike
The grey shrike
Subspecies
There are a number of subspecies:[14]
- Lanius excubitor excubitor (including melanopterus – which may intergrade with sibiricus – and galliae) – breeds in temperate to subarctic continental Europe and northwest Siberia
- Medium grey above, pale grey hue below; some white on primaries and sometimes secondaries
- Lanius excubitor homeyeri – breeds in southeast Europe and southwest Siberia
- Lighter grey than excubitor above, dull white below; more white on primaries and secondaries
- Lanius excubitor koenigi – endemic to the Canary Islands
- Lanius excubitor algeriensis – coastal northwestern Africa
- Lanius excubitor elegans – Eastern Morocco, northeastern Mauritania and northwestern Mali to northeastern Sudan, Egypt and southwestern Israel
- Lanius excubitor leucopygos – central and southern Mauritania to southern Chad and central Sudan
- Lanius excubitor aucheri – east-central Sudan to northwestern Somalia northwest to Iraq and Iran
- Lanius excubitor theresae – southern Lebanon and northern Israel
- Lanius excubitor buryi – endemic to Yemen
- Lanius excubitor uncinatus – endemic to Socotra
- Lanius excubitor lahtora – Pakistan through central India and southern Nepal to western Bangladesh
- Lanius excubitor pallidirostris (Steppe grey shrike) – Central Asia and parts of northern China, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan
Description
An adult great grey shrike is a medium-sized passerine about as large as a big
The general colour of the upperparts is pearl grey, tinged brownish towards the east of its Eurasian range. The cheeks and chin as well as a thin and often hard-to-see stripe above the eye are white, and a deep black mask extends from the
Males and females are about the same size, and do not differ conspicuously in appearance except by direct comparison. In the female the underparts are greyer and are usually visibly barred greyish-brown, and the white wing and tail markings are characteristically less in extent (though this is rarely clearly visible except in flight).
Vocalizations
The male's
When disturbed, its alarm note is a harsh jay-like k(w)eee, greee or jaaa, often repeated twice. The more excited the birds become, the higher and faster the calls get, via chek-chek-chek to a rattle trr-trr-trr or an explosive aak-aak-aak. A bird of prey alert is given with a whistle breezeek. Knuk calls are given by adults confronted with a potential threat to their young. To beg for food – young to adults or mates to each other – rows of waik calls are given. This species sometimes tries to attract small songbirds by mimicking their calls, so it may attempt to catch them for food.[20]
Similar species
The
Elsewhere, the
The Iberian grey shrike is clearer and usually darker grey above, and not tinged grey but often decidedly pinkish on the belly and particular breast; the white "eyebrow" extends to over the beak, which has typically a larger pale base. The barring pattern is less developed at all ages, hardly ever present even in females, and slighter in the otherwise very similar
East Asian L. excubitor are barely sympatric with the Chinese grey shrike. The latter is larger and generally differs from the northern species as the southern does, and in addition has much larger white areas in wings and tail.[24]
The loggerhead shrike is hard to distinguish, but the proportion of the head to the beak (which seems stubby in L. ludovicianus by comparison and is all-dark) is usually reliable. Indeed, the word loggerhead refers to the relatively larger head of the southern species.[25]
The lesser grey shrike is a smaller and comparatively short-tailed bird. It can best be recognized by the rather large black area above the bill, almost reaching to the forehead and without a white stripe above it. In flight, the wide instead of pointed black tail end of L. minor is characteristic. The African species are completely
Distribution and habitat
Generally, its breeding range is found in Eurasia and northern Africa. In the high mountains of the
Except for the
The preferred
Behaviour
This species is
Before and after the nesting season, groups of breeding birds will sometimes initiate gatherings; these seem to occur at the boundary of the group's combined range or in the unclaimed land separating it from neighbouring groups. The initiation signal is a conspicuous display flight given by a bird surveying its territory: it spirals tens of meters/yards high into the air, usually briefly does a fluttering hover at the top of the spiral, and then glides down. Group neighbours will respond by performing the same type of flight, and eventually about half the group's members will depart to the meeting location where they will spend several tens of minutes – sometimes more than an hour – chattering, calling, duetting, and excitedly moving about the meeting site (which typically is some small tree or shrubbery). In winter, birds will often assemble in small groups and roost together, particularly to keep warm during the night; this is apparently not initiated with a specific assembly display however.[32]
The flight of the great grey shrike is undulating and rather heavy, but its dash is straight and determined. It is, as noted above, also capable of
Fledgelings moult part of their juvenile plumage before their first winter, and the rest in spring. Adults moult on their breeding grounds before going on migration, or before the depth of winter if they are resident. Sometimes adults also seem to moult some feathers before attempting to breed. As moult requires a considerable investment of energy, some significant
Food and feeding
The great grey shrike eats small vertebrates and large invertebrates. To hunt, this bird perches on the topmost branch of a tree, utility pole or similar elevated spot in a characteristic upright stance some metres/yards (at least one and up to 18 m/20 yd) above ground. Alternatively, it may scan the grassland below from flight, essentially staying in one place during prolonged bouts of mainly hovering flight that may last up to 20 minutes. It will drop down in a light glide for terrestrial prey or swoop hawk-like on a flying insect. Small birds are sometimes caught in flight too, usually by approaching them from below and behind and seizing their feet with the beak. If no prey ventures out in the open, great grey shrikes will rummage through the undergrowth or sit near hiding places and flash their white wing and tail markings to scare small animals into coming out. As noted above, it will sometimes mimic songbirds to entice them to come within striking distance.[32]
Typically, at least half the prey
Prey is killed by hitting it with the hooked beak, aiming for the skull in vertebrates. If too large to swallow in one or a few chunks, it is transported to a feeding site by carrying it in the beak or (if too large) in the feet. The feet are not suited for tearing up prey, however. It is rather impaled upon a sharp point –
The basic
Breeding and life history
Great grey shrikes breed during the summer, typically once per year. In exceptionally good conditions, they raise two broods a year, and if the first
Laying usually takes place in May. The clutch numbers three to nine eggs, typically around seven, with North American clutches tending to be larger on average than European ones. If a second clutch is produced in one breeding season, it is smaller than the first one. The eggs have a white background colour, usually with a grey hue and sometimes with a blue one; they are patterned with blotches of yellowish- to reddish-brown and purplish-grey, often denser around the blunt end. They measure around 26 mm (1.0 in) in length and 19.5 mm (0.77 in) in width.
Usually more than half of all nests manage to hatch at least one young, and around three-quarters of all eggs laid hatch, suggesting that if eggs are lost before hatching, it usually is the entire clutch. Half to three-quarters of the hatched young successfully fledge under most circumstances. They will become sexually mature in their first spring and often attempt to breed right away. On average, great grey shrikes get a chance at four breeding attempts during their life, with most birds in the wild getting eaten by a
Conservation status
As remarked
Altogether, the great grey shrike is common and widespread and not considered a
Footnotes
- ^ . Retrieved 21 February 2022.
- ^ a b c Harris & Franklin (2000): pp. 152–153
- ^ Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema Naturæ per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1 (10th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 94.
- ^ Aldrovandi (1646), Willughby (1676): p. 53, Ray (1713), Frisch (1720[verification needed]), Albin (1731–1738), Linnaeus (1746, 1758)
- ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
- ^ Accipitres adventantes observat & aviculis indicat: Linnaeus (1758)
- ^ Gessner (1555): p. 557, Linnaeus (1758), Glare (1968–1982): pp. 637, 1000, Swainson (2008): p. 47
- ^ "Shrike". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
- ^ "Lanius excubitor". Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, Norway Bird Collection. Naturhistorisk museum. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
- ^ Gessner (1555): p. 557, Aldrovandi (1646), Willughby (1676): pp. 52–53, Ray (1713), Swainson (2008): p. 47
- ^ For instance: at ebird.org and birdsoftheworld.org (accessed 2022-05-05).
- ^ Harris & Franklin (2000): pp. 24–25, Mlíkovský (2003): pp. 233, 251, Jønsson & Fjeldså (2006)
- ^ Harris & Franklin (2000): pp. 24–25, Sangster et al. (2002)
- ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2017). "Shrikes, vireos & shrike-babblers". World Bird List Version 7.3. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
- ^ Harris & Franklin (2000): pp. 150, 155
- ^ "Northern Shrike, Life History, All About Birds – Cornell Lab of Ornithology". Allaboutbirds.org. Retrieved 2013-03-10.
- ^ Harris & Franklin (2000): pp. 60–61, 150–151
- ^ Harris & Franklin (2000): pp. 60–61, 151–152
- ^ Harris & Franklin (2000): pp. 153–155
- ^ Harris & Franklin (2000): pp. 154
- ^ Harris & Franklin (2000): pp. 150–151, Sangster et al. (2002)
- ^ Harris & Franklin (2000): pp. 24–25, 151
- ^ Clement & Worfolk (1995), Tenuvuo & Varrela (1998), Harris & Franklin (2000): pp. 62–63, 150–151
- ^ Harris & Franklin (2000): pp. 58, 151
- ^ Harris & Franklin (2000): pp. 64–65,151
- ^ Harris & Franklin (2000): pp. 58–59, 66–67, 151
- ^ Keller, Herrado, Voříšek et al.
- ^ Henninger (1906)
- ^ Ohio Ornithological Society (2004): Annotated Ohio state checklist Archived 2004-07-18 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ a b c Harris & Franklin (2000): p. 152
- ^ a b Harris & Franklin (2000): pp. 153–154
- ^ a b c d Harris & Franklin (2000): p. 153
- ^ Harris & Franklin (2000): pp. 150, 153
- ^ "Lanius excubitor (Great grey shrike)". Animal Diversity Web.
- ^ "Lanius excubitor (Great grey shrike)". Animal Diversity Web.
- ^ a b Antczak et al. (2005)
- ^ a b c AnAge [2009]: Lanius excubitor life history data. Retrieved 2009-SEP-19.
- ^ a b Harris & Franklin (2000): pp. 154–155
- ^ a b c Harris & Franklin (2000): p. 155
- ^ Jønsson & Fjeldså (2006)
- JSTOR 4088571.
- ^ Harris & Franklin (2000): p. 154
References
- Albin, Eleazar (1734). A Natural History of Birds. Vol. 2. London: William Innys. p. 13, plate 13.
- Aldrovandi, Ulisse (Ulyssis Aldrovandus) (1646): De alio laniorum genera majore Ornithologi ["Of the other kind of shrike, called the Greater by ornithologists"]. In: Ornithologia (3rd ed., Vol. 1): 389 [in Latin]. Nicolò Tebaldini, Bologna ("Bononia").
- Antczak, Marcin; Hromada, Martin; Tryjanowski, Piotr (2005). "Frogs and toads in the food of the Great Grey Shrike (Lanius excubitor): larders and skinning as two ways to consume dangerous prey". .
- Clement, Peter; Worfolk, Tim (1995). "Southern and eastern Great Grey Shrikes in northwest Europe". Birding World. 8 (8): 300–309.
- Frisch, Johann Leonhard (1720): Der V.ten Hauptart II.te Abtheilung, Viererley Arten Aelstern – II.te Platte ["Second division of the fifth primary species, the four species of magpies – Plate 2"]. In: Vorstellung der Vögel in Teutschland, und beyläuffig auch einiger fremden, mit ihren natürlichen Farben, etc. (Vol. 5): plate 55 [German with Latin and French captions]. F.H.Frisch, Berlin ("Berolinum").
- Gessner, Conrad (1555): Historiae animalium (Vol. 3) [in Latin]. Christoph Froschauer, Zürich ("Tigurium").
- Glare, P.G.W. (ed.) (1968–1982): ISBN 0-19-864224-5
- Harris, Tony & Franklin, Kim (2000): Shrikes & bush-shrikes: including wood-shrikes, helmet-shrikes, flycatcher-shrikes, philentomas, batises and wattle-eyes. ISBN 0-7136-3861-3
- Henninger, W.F. (1906). "A preliminary list of the birds of Seneca County, Ohio" (PDF). Wilson Bulletin. 18 (2): 47–60.
- Jønsson, Knud A.; Fjeldså, Jon (2006). "A phylogenetic supertree of oscine passerine birds (Aves: Passeri)". S2CID 85317440.
- Linnaeus, Carl (1746): 181. "Ampelis caerulescens, alis caudaque nigricantibus"[permanent dead link]. In: Fauna Svecica Sistens Animalia Sveciæ Regni, etc. (1st ed.): 68–69 [in Latin]. Conrad & Georg Jacob Wishoff, Leiden ("Lugdunum Batavorum").
- Linnaeus, Carl (1758): 43.2. Lanius excubitor Archived 2017-06-13 at the Wayback Machine. In: Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (10th ed., Vol. 1): 94 [in Latin]. Lars Salvius, Stockholm ("Holmius").
- Mlíkovský, Jirí (2002): Cenozoic Birds of the World (Part 1: Europe). Ninox Press, Prague.
- Ray, John (Joannis Raii) (1713): A. 3. Lanius seu Collurio cinereus major. In: Synopsis methodica avium & piscium: opus posthumum, etc. (Vol. 1) [in Latin]. William Innys, London.
- Sangster, George; Knox, Alan G.; Helbig, Andreas J.; Parkin, David T. (2002). "Taxonomic recommendations for European birds". .
- Swainson, Charles (2008): Provincial Names and Folk Lore of British Birds. BiblioLife. ISBN 0-559-53114-1.
- Tenuvuo, Jorma; Varrella, Juha (1998). "Identification of the Great Grey Shrike complex in Europe". Alula. 4 (1): 2–11. Archived from the originalon 2010-12-16. Retrieved 2009-09-19.
- Willughby, Francis (1676): Ornithologiae libri tres [in Latin]. John Martyn, London.
- Keller; Herrado; Voříšek (2020). European Breeding Bird Atlas 2: Distribution, Abundance and Change. Barcelona: European Bird Census Council & Lynx Editions.
External links
- "Great grey shrike media". Internet Bird Collection.
- Oiseaux.net Great grey shrike pictures