Great Grey Shrike
Lanius excubitor
The Great Grey Shrike (Lanius excubitor) is a common shrik found in 97 countries, weighing about 63 g. The great grey shrike is a large and predatory songbird species in the shrike family (Laniidae).
About the Great Grey Shrike
The great grey shrike is a large and predatory songbird species in the shrike family (Laniidae). It forms a superspecies with its parapatric southern relatives, the Iberian grey shrike, the Chinese grey shrike and the American loggerhead shrike. Males and females are similar in plumage, pearly grey above with a black eye-mask and white underparts.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
How to identify it
An adult great grey shrike is a medium-sized passerine about as large as a big thrush, measuring from 22 to 26 cm (8.7 to 10.2 in) long. It typically weighs around 60 to 70 g (2.1 to 2.5 oz), although some subspecies are noticeably smaller or larger, and even in the nominate subspecies adult weights between 48 and 81 g (1.7 and 2.9 oz) are recorded. The wings are around 11.4 cm (4.5 in) and the tail around 10.9 cm (4.3 in) long in the nominate subspecies, its bill measures about 23 mm (0.91 in) from tip to skull, and the tarsometatarsus part of its "legs" (actually feet) is around 27.4 mm (1. Voice: The male's song consists of short pleasant warbling strophes, interspersed with fluid whistles. The individual phrases may go like tu-tu-krr-pree-pree or trr-turit trr-turit.... To announce that it has become aware of someone straying into its territory – be it a female or male of its species or a large mammal – it gives long shrill raspy whistles like trrii(u) or (t')kwiiet.
What the Great Grey Shrike sounds like
Where it lives
Recorded as a rare visitor in United States, Canada, Albania, Kenya, Japan, Iceland.
When to see it
Best months: January, February, March, April, September, October, November, December, with peak activity in October. It is a variable species across most of its range.
Easily confused with
Quick questions
- How do you identify a Great Grey Shrike?
- An adult great grey shrike is a medium-sized passerine about as large as a big thrush, measuring from 22 to 26 cm (8.7 to 10.2 in) long. Full identification notes are on this page.
- How big is a Great Grey Shrike?
- The Great Grey Shrike is a medium sized bird weighing about 63 g.
- Where can you see a Great Grey Shrike?
- The Great Grey Shrike occurs in 97 countries, including Sweden, Norway, France, India and Finland.
- What does a Great Grey Shrike sound like?
- You can listen to 3 field recordings of the Great Grey Shrike on this page, contributed to xeno-canto under open licences.
- What birds look similar to a Great Grey Shrike?
- The Great Grey Shrike is most easily confused with the Brown Shrike, the Long-tailed Shrike and the Southern Fiscal.
- Is the Great Grey Shrike endangered?
- The Great Grey Shrike is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
Learn the Great Grey Shrike for real
BeakBrain drills you on photos and calls until you can greet this bird by name in the field. Free to play, on any device.
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