Great Grey Shrike

The Great Grey Shrike is a striking, predatory songbird, with pale grey upperparts, clean white underparts, a bold black mask through the eye, and black wings marked with a white patch visible in flight. A fairly long, black tail with white outer feathers is often flicked and fanned while perched.

Despite belonging to the songbird order, it behaves like a miniature raptor, hunting large insects, small mammals, and even other birds from prominent perches, and famously caches surplus prey by impaling it on thorns or barbed wire, a habit that has earned it the nickname "butcher bird".

Key field marks

• Pale grey upperparts, white underparts
• Bold black mask through the eye
• Black wings with a white patch, visible especially in flight
• Long black tail with white outer edges, often flicked
• Hooked bill tip, unusual among songbirds
• Upright posture on prominent perches such as bush tops or wires

Similar species

• Red-backed Shrike is smaller with a chestnut back and, in males, a blue-grey crown, lacking the Great Grey Shrike's clean pale grey-and-white pattern.
• Woodchat Shrike shows a bright chestnut crown and nape, quite different from Great Grey Shrike's plain grey head.

Its larger size, pale grey upperparts, and habit of perching prominently in open country distinguish it from smaller, more richly colored shrike relatives.

Habitat

Favors open country with scattered thorny bushes, heathland, rough grassland, and farmland edges that provide both hunting perches and thorns or barbed wire for caching prey.

Range

Breeds across northern and central Europe, Scandinavia, and boreal Asia; in western Europe including Britain it occurs mainly as a scarce winter visitor from more northerly breeding populations.

Migration

Northern and eastern populations are migratory, moving south and west in autumn to winter in more temperate open country, while some populations further south are more sedentary.

Behavior

Hunts from an exposed perch, dropping onto prey on the ground or catching insects and small birds in flight, then frequently impaling surplus prey on thorns, spines, or barbed wire to create a cache, or "larder", for later consumption.

Voice

Gives a harsh, grating "shek-shek" alarm call, along with a varied, sometimes musical song incorporating mimicry of other species.

Feeding

A versatile predator, taking large insects such as beetles and grasshoppers, along with small mammals, small birds, and lizards, especially in winter when insect prey is scarce.

Nesting and breeding

Builds a bulky cup nest in a dense, often thorny bush or small tree. Females lay 4-7 eggs, incubated mainly by the female for about 15-17 days, with both parents feeding the young.