UKBirds

Lesser Grey Shrike

Lanius minor

The Lesser Grey Shrike is a member of the shrike family Laniidae.

It is similar in appearance to the Great Grey Shrike Lanius excubitor and the Southern Grey Shrike L. meridionalis. It breeds in southeastern Europe and into Asia.

This species prefers dry open lowlands, and is prominent on telephone wires.

It is slightly smaller than the Great Grey Shrike, and has a black forehead and relatively longer wings.

This medium-sized migratory passerine eats large insects, small birds and lizards. Like other shrikes it hunts from prominent perches, and impales corpses on thorns or barbed wire as a "larder".

It is a scarce vagrant to western Europe, including Great Britain, usually as a spring overshoot.