Red-backed Shrike
Lanius collurio
The adult Red-backed Shrike lives in open countryside with scattered bushes, thorn hedges, scrub, and rough grassland. It hunts from exposed perches, dropping onto large insects, spiders, small reptiles, rodents, and young birds. A notable habit is impaling surplus prey on thorns or barbed wire, earning shrikes the nickname “butcher birds.” This long-distance migrant breeds across much of Europe and western Asia before wintering in sub-Saharan Africa.
- Type
- Wing
- Conservation status
- LC
Growth chain
- ?
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- Red-backed Shrike