Great Grey Shrikes are medium-sized shrikes. Their front
is faint-buff to light-grey, with a white chin patch, which
contrasts sharply with wide black eye stripes and a grey
crown, nape of the neck and mantle. The flight feathers are
black, with a small wing patch. They have prominent white
wing patches on the coverts. The long, narrow tail is black,
with white outer edges.
The irises are dark-brown.
The short, strong, slightly hooked bill is dark-grey.
The legs and feet are dark-grey.
Juveniles
are slightly paler than
adults
and have vermiculated
plumage basically
all over.
The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and
specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found,
based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to
ebird.org
.
The global distribution of the Great Grey Shrike ("Northern
Shrike") is available HERE
.
There are in total 9 races of Great Grey Shrikes, which can
be collated into three groups, a Western Eurasian group, an
Eastern Eurasian group and a North-American group (for
classification details see, e.g. Wikipedia
).
The Western Eurasian group comprises races "excubitor",
"homeyeri" and "leucopterus".
Races "siberius", "bianchii", "mollis" and "funereus"
form part of the East Eurasian Group, while races
"borealis" (the Great American Shrike) and "invictus" are members of
the North-American Group.
Race
"koenigi" is found only on the Canary Islands.
Most races of Great Grey Shrikes are migratory. Sedentary
populations are found only in central to eastern Europe and
mid-latitude western Siberia (race "excubitor")
and in near-coastal southern Alaska (race "invictus").
The migratory populations breed in the sub-arctic regions of
all northern continents, roughly between 55 and 70 degrees
geographic latitude, across the entire breadth of the continents.
They spend the northern winters in the moderate climate zone,
between roughly 30 and 50 degrees latitude, again spanning
the entire breadth of the land masses in the northern
hemisphere.
In Europe Great Grey Shrikes, race "excubitor",
are sedentary in central and eastern Europe, from inland
France via Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland into
the Baltic States, southern Bielorussia and northern Ukraine
and eastwards into southern Russia.
During the summer they extend their breeding range into
central and northern Scandinavia (except the highest
mountain ranges) and northern European Russia.
In England, the western half of France, north-eastern
Spain, the Alps and all of south-eastern Europe they
are found as winter visitors.
Great Grey Shrikes have a preference for relatively open
habitats dominated by grassland, with suitable perches
such as shrubs, low trees or just fence posts. They are
often found along the edges of shrub of woodland/forest.
During the breeding season scattered shrubs or low trees
are required for nesting.
Sightings
Click here for sighting information
Race "excubitor"
D. Wilczynska reports spotting Great Grey Shrikes, nominate race
"excubitor",
near Brok, on the river Bug, Masovia, Poland, in August 2016.
All sighting and photographic information presented
on this page has kindly been contributed by D. Wilczynska.
Race "koenigi"
Although not found in Europe, we show here Great Grey Shrikes, race
"koenigi",
for completeness.
D. Wilczynska reports spotting Great Grey Shrikes, race
"koenigi",
on Lanzarote, Canary Islands, in March 2017.
All sighting and photographic information presented
on this page has kindly been contributed by D. Wilczynska.
Photos
Race "excubitor"
ADULT
MALE
Near-lateral view of a male Great Grey Shrike (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Near Brok, river Bug, Masovia, Poland, August 2016]
Lateral view of a male Great Grey Shrike; note the absence of any
signs of vermiculation, indicating that this bird is a male
(photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Near Brok, river Bug, Masovia, Poland, August 2016]
Race "koenigi"
ADULT
MALE
Lateral view of a male Great Grey Shrike; note the absence of any
signs of vermiculation, indicating that this bird is a male
(photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[March 2017]
Lateral view of a male Great Grey Shrike
(photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[March 2017]
More Great Grey Shrike sound recordings are available at
xeno-canto.org
.
These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our
contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species
please refer to a field guide.
German name(s): "Raubwürger"
Description
Classification
Distribution
Sightings
Photos
Breeding
Nest
Eggs
Behaviour
Food
Call/s
Click here for a physical description
are welcome.
.