Red-backed shrike
Red-backed shrike | |
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Adult male | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Laniidae |
Genus: | Lanius |
Species: | L. collurio
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Binomial name | |
Lanius collurio | |
Range of L. collurio Breeding Passage Non-breeding
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The red-backed shrike (Lanius collurio) is a carnivorous
Taxonomy
The red-backed shrike was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under its current binomial name Lanius collurio.[2] The genus name, Lanius, is derived from the Latin word for "butcher", and some shrikes are also known as "butcher birds" because of their feeding habits. The specific collurio is from Ancient Greek kollurion, a bird mentioned by Aristotle.[3] The common English name "shrike" is from Middle English *schrike, *schryke, from Old English sċrīc, "shriek", from the same root as shriek and screech, referring to the bird's shrill cry or call.[4]
Description
This 16–18 cm-long (6.3–7.1 in) migratory bird eats large insects, small birds, frogs, rodents and lizards. Like other shrikes it hunts from prominent perches, and impales corpses on thorns or barbed wire as a "larder." This practice has earned it the nickname of "butcher bird."[5]
The general colour of the male's upper parts is reddish. It has a grey head and a typical shrike black stripe through the eye. Underparts are tinged pink, and the tail has a black and white pattern similar to that of a wheatear. In the female and young birds the upperparts are brown and vermiculated. Underparts are buff and also vermiculated.[5]
Distribution and habitat
This bird breeds in most of
Great Britain
Once a common migratory visitor to Great Britain, numbers declined sharply during the 20th century, and it is now classified as a UK 'Red List' species.
Gallery
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Adult female in Poland
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Eggs—MHNT
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Juvenile bird
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ID composite
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Cuculus canorus canorus in a clutch of Lanius collurio -MHNT
References
- ^ . Retrieved 14 September 2021.
- ^ Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1 (10th ed.). Holmiae:Laurentii Salvii. p. 94.
- ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
- ^ "Shrike". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
- ^ RSPB. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
- ^ a b "Mark Avery's blog: Shrikes". RSPB. Retrieved on 30 December 2011
- ^ ""Butcher bird" nests in England after 18 year absence". RSPB. Retrieved on 10 September 2010
- ^ "Red-backed Shrike breeds on Dartmoor". Birdwatch magazine. Archived from the original on 2012-06-05. Retrieved 30 December 2011
- ^ "Red-backed Shrike" (PDF). The Devon Birdwatching and Preservation Society. Retrieved 15 August 2013
- ^ "England's only nesting "butcher birds" successful on Dartmoor". RSPB. Retrieved on 10 March 2014
- ^ "Red-backed shrike breeds successfully in Shetland". birdguides.com. Retrieved on 25 June 2021
Further reading
- Worfolk, Tim (2000) Identification of red-backed, isabelline and brown shrikes Dutch Birding 22 (6): 323–362.
- Metzmacher, M. & Van Nieuwenhuyse, D. (2012). Dynamique de population de la Pie-grièche écorcheur (Lanius collurio) dans le sud-est de la Belgique : modélisation de l’influence du climat. Terre et Vie, 67 : 353-374.