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Birds by name

Red-backed shrike

Conservation status: Red

Red-backed shrikes are slightly larger, but slimmer, than house sparrows. The male is unmistakable with a bluish-grey head, black mask, bright chestnut back and thick hooked black bill. Shrikes like to perch prominently on the tops of bushes, fence posts and telephone wires, where they have a good view of potential prey. Items caught are then taken to a larder where they are impaled on a thorn or wedged in a fork. Its dramatic decline to virtual extinction as a UK breeding species make this a Red List bird.

Overview

Latin name

Lanius collurio

Family

Shrikes (Laniidae)

Where to see them

Now effectively extinct as a breeding bird and best looked for on passage in spring and autumn. Most birds are seen on the south and east coasts of the UK as far north as northern Scotland.

When to see them

May and June, when they migrate north and from August to October when they move south.

What they eat

Insects, and small birds and mammals

Population

EuropeUK breeding*UK wintering*UK passage*
-0-5 pairs-250

* UK breeding is the number of pairs breeding annually. UK wintering is the number of individuals present from October to March. UK passage is the number of individuals passing through on migration in spring and/or autumn.

Distribution

Key

Please note that the map is only intended as a guide. It shows general distribution rather than detailed, localised populations.

Illustrations

Audio

Volker Arnold, Xeno-canto

Characteristics

Red-backed shrike (female)

Red-backed shrike - female
  • Colouring: Female, Juvenile
  • Size: between robin-blackbird
  • Feather colours: brown, white, cream/buff
  • Beak colours: black/dark grey, brown/buff
  • Beak length: short
  • Beak thickness: short
  • Beak shape: short
  • Leg colour: black/grey, brown
  • Behaviour: on ground, wagging or flicking tail, bird hops on the ground, catches insects in flight, eats birds/chicks/eggs

Red-backed shrike (male)

Red-backed shrike - male
  • Colouring: Male
  • Size: between robin-blackbird
  • Feather colours: brown, black, white, blue, red, grey, cream/buff
  • Beak colours: black/dark grey
  • Beak length: short
  • Beak thickness: short
  • Beak shape: short
  • Leg colour: black/grey, brown
  • Behaviour: on ground, wagging or flicking tail, bird hops on the ground, catches insects in flight, eats birds/chicks/eggs