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22

Great Grey Shrike (Lanius excubitor) Alternate name(s): "Iberian Grey Shrike"; race "pallidirostris": "Steppe Grey Shrike" Size: 22-26 cm; wing span 30-36 cm Weight: ca. 50-80 g

Oman: Family Group 22 Family Group 22 Table Golden Oriole Isabelline Shrike Great Grey Shrike Thumbnails page Classification table Index of bird names Birds of Oman home page

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Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description 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. 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 and have vermiculated plumage basically all over.

Taxonomy, classification See Great Grey Shrike at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat Click here for information on habitat and range 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 Arabia, Great Grey Shrikes, race "aucheri", are usually found during their passage between Africa and Asia. We spotted them on the North coast of Oman.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "aucheri" A Great Grey Shrike, race "aucheri", was first spotted by us about 10 km South of Ras Al-Hadd, at the eastern tip of Oman, in May 2010. The photos are of poor quality, because taken in the last light of day, after sunset.

Photos

Race "aucheri"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Slightly blurred distant near-dorsal view of a Great Grey Shrike
[Near Ras Al-Hadd, May 2010]

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.

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