Red-backed Shrike Lanius collurio Scientific name definitions

17–19 cm; 22·5–34 g. Rather small shrike with fairly short wings and longish tail; when excited, indulges in tail movement in form of loose flick or curving swing, accompanied by partial spreading of tail. Male nominate race has bluish-grey upper forehead and crown to nape and hindneck, black lower forehead and mask from lores to rear of ear-coverts; mantle, scapulars and back bright chestnut, rump and uppertail-coverts bluish-grey; upperwing blackish, feathers edged chestnut, sometimes a very small white patch at base of primaries; tail black, all except central pair of feathers with white base, outermost pair with white outer web (in flight, all-black central tail feathers and black terminal band on others form inverted T-shape on white background); chin and throat white, underparts very light salmon-pink, undertail-coverts white, sometimes some dark barring on flanks (present on 4% of males trapped in Germany); iris dark brown; bill black or blackish, paler or bluish base in non-breeding season; legs black or dark brown. Female is similar to male but generally paler and duller, with creamy lower forehead and supercilium and brown ear-coverts (facial mask thus restricted and much less distinct), crown and upperparts warm brown or greyish-brown, nape usually tinged greyish (variable, some with head pattern more like male); rump and uppertail-coverts grey to greyish-brown, tail dark brown to rufous-brown with whitish edges and tip (variable, some with tail like that of male), upperwing as male but fringes paler and duller; creamy below, often with pale pinkish-buff wash on side of breast and flanks, vermiculated with blackish (except on throat and undertail-coverts); bare parts as male, but bill and legs slightly paler. Juvenile is similar to female but with even less contrast in plumage, entire upperside, including top of head, rump, upperwing-coverts and tertials, rufous-brown to buffish-brown with heavy blackish crescentic barring, underside more heavily vermiculated than female. Races differ little, are also individually variable: <em>kobylini</em> is somewhat duller than nominate, usually with greyer upper mantle; pallidifrons has paler crown and hindneck than nominate.

• Red-backed x Red-tailed Shrike (hybrid) Lanius collurio x phoenicuroides
• Red-backed x Woodchat Shrike (hybrid) Lanius collurio x senator

Europe (except N, NW & SW) E to WC Siberia (NW Altai), S to N Iberia, Sardinia, S Italy, Sicily, Balkans, Asia Minor, Levant, Caucasus and NW Iran. Winters in S & E Africa.

Requires sunny, warm, usually dry, and level or gently sloping terrain, with scattered bushes, shrubs or low trees (1–3 m tall) providing hunting posts overlooking areas of short grass, heath or bare soil (suitable for small prey); high-quality habitats tend to feature mosaic-like grassy vegetation with alternating areas of tall and short growth and bare areas, with perches. In agricultural areas occupies neglected overgrown patches, heaths, open downs, overgrown orchards and gardens, hedgerows, and scrub along railways or roadsides; found also in temporary steppe-like habitats, e.g. military training areas, burned forests, forest clearings and spruce (Picea) plantations. In W Europe associated mostly with cattle breeding, as often found in hilly regions or at middle altitudes. Regular near agricultural roads, as these combine easy prey accessibility (bare ground, regularly mown road edges) with fence posts for perches, scattered shrubs or hedges for breeding, and unmown vegetation as prey habitat. Sometimes occupies atypical habitat when breeding pairs “clumped” in loose colonies. Avoids very dry areas, and confined to mountainous areas in N Iberian Peninsula; in Alps ascends mostly to 1000 m, exceptionally 2050 m; in Caucasus usually to 2000 m, less often on subalpine meadows to 3200 m; to 1400 m in Sicily. On S African wintering grounds occupies habitats with vegetation structure similar to that in breeding quarters; occurs widely in savanna, and extends into other grasslands and karoo. In N South Africa shows preference for low scrub (1–3 m tall) and open bush (10–50% coverage); uses perches 1·5–3 m high in open areas with herbaceous layer rich in insects.

Migratory; non-breeding range in E & S Africa S from extreme S Somalia (rare) and SE and coastal Kenya, but main bulk of population S from Zambia and Malawi. N passage in spring following more E course than autumn passage, and notable for concentration of migration routes across and around E end of Mediterranean , even by populations breeding in extreme W of Europe. Nocturnal migrant. Leaves breeding grounds from late Jul, mostly in second half Aug and early Sept , general direction of movement SE or SSE towards E Mediterranean; those crossing Mediterranean Sea make landfall on N African coast almost entirely E of 20° E; passage through Egypt mainly mid-Aug to early Nov, first arrivals in extreme S of wintering areas in late Oct. Return migration from winter quarters begins second half Mar, all having left extreme S by about middle of Apr; more E course of N migration evident in E Africa, and divergence between spring and autumn routes more pronounced farther N. Arrival on breeding grounds in Apr in N Israel, mostly May in Europe; males generally reach breeding areas a few days before females (up to five days earlier in Europe).

Opportunistic, taking mainly insects, especially beetles (Coleoptera), Orthoptera and Hymenoptera, also other invertebrates; also small mammals, mostly voles (Microtini), birds, and reptiles; at end of summer and in autumn diet sometimes complemented by berries, especially of wild cherry (Prunus avium) and elder (Sambucus nigra). Great majority of bird prey are nestlings and fledglings; adult birds taken are generally weak or injured, and any healthy ones probably taken at nest. Small or soft prey regularly fed to small nestlings. Most prey located from exposed, usually low perch, by sit-and-wait strategy. Large moving insects spotted up to 30 m away, and caught in bill after shallow direct glide, which may terminate in brief hover before bird drops into vegetation; also drops straight on to prey below perch. Flying insects taken in rapid, sometimes lengthy, aerial pursuit. Prey (even small items) almost always carried back to perch for consumption or impaling. Many prey items impaled on thorns, broken twigs, barbed wire, etc., in caches (larders), although individual items may be widely scattered throughout territory. Deals with invertebrate prey by beating them on substrate to remove extremities, wingcases, etc., or picks these off by bill while holding prey under, or in, foot or after impaling. Vertebrate prey killed by blow to back of head or neck; brain often consumed on ground and animal decapitated before being cached. Unable to dismember vertebrate prey held only under foot, and these therefore impaled for treatment.

Main call a hoarse, muffled “gä”, “gwä” and “krew”, or rougher “gek, gek”, also as shorter “tek-tek” for contact; during excitement varied to “tschä” or “tschäck”, which can end in alarm call, “dschrää-dschrää…”. Male gives “tschok” call for marking territory and simultaneously attracting females; “hiää” calls by food-begging female, as well as nestlings. Male song (without territorial function) during display a soft warble, incorporating songs and calls of a wide range of other bird species (learned during immature imprinting between leaving nest and autumn migration, thus no birds from winter range imitated), in Middle Europe most common songs copied from Eurasian Blackbird (Turdus merula), Great Tit (Parus major), European Crested Tit (Lophophanes cristatus), Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica), Acrocephalus warblers, Sylvia warblers, Emberiza species, and calls of Common Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) and White Wagtail (Motacilla alba), also of non-passerines such as Grey Partridge (Perdix perdix), Common Quail (Coturnix coturnix) and Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis); no clear verses or repetitions, and most verses introduced and closed with “dschä”-calls; songs can last for more than 10 minutes without pause.

Laying from early May or mid-May (according to latitude) to Jul; usually one brood, rarely two (two recorded in Belgium, France and Germany). Pair formation fairly rapid, mostly in breeding territory, although occasionally during spring stopovers. Nest untidy-looking, a loose foundation of often green plant stems (some thick or woody), roots, grass, lichen, hair, etc., compactly lined with grass, hair, moss, fur, reed (Phragmites) or reedmace (Typha) flowerheads, plant down and similar material, situated at 0·3–5 m but generally low down (1–1·5 m on average) in dense, often thorny bush such as hawthorn (Crataegus), blackthorn (Prunus spinosa), bramble (Rubus) or dog-rose (Rosa). Clutch 1–8 eggs, mostly 3–7, in W Europe first clutches usually 4–6 eggs (7-egg clutches much more frequent in E than in W), clutch size decreases during course of season; replacement clutches contain fewer eggs on average, eggs very variable, subelliptical to oval, very slightly glossy, pale green to pinkish or creamy white with band of light brown, olive, brownish-red, grey or purple specks and small blotches near broad end (markings sometimes scattered over whole surface, or even present only at narrow end); several replacement clutches may be laid (particularly in second half of Jun) if earlier ones lost; incubation almost exclusively by female, although rarely male assists, period 12–16 days, mostly 14 days; chicks brooded by female and fed by male for first week, thereafter fed by both sexes ; very occasionally, one or more unmated individuals help in brood-rearing, at times taking over almost entire task from breeding pair; nestling period normally 14–16 days, sometimes longer (up to 18–20 days) in very bad weather, or sometimes predators cause young to jump out of nest when only 11 days old; fledglings begin to catch insects for themselves from c. 14 days after leaving nest, become independent c. 20 days later. In recent investigation of relationship between breeding success and weather conditions in European breeding areas, it was found that, in general, warm, dry sunny weather increases success, whereas rainy and cold weather has opposite effect (6 Jørgensen, P. S., Tøttrup, A. P., Rahbek, C. and Geertsma, M. (2013). Effects of summer weather on reproductive success of the Red-backed Shrike (Lanius collurio). Bird Study. 60(1): 1-10. . Close ).  

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Locally common to uncommon or rare. European breeding population estimated as exceeding 6,300,000 pairs, but underwent moderate decline between 1970 and 1990; although declines continued in several countries during 1990–2000, most E populations remained stable. Species probably declined only slightly overall, and is provisionally evaluated as “depleted”. Range has contracted in Iberia, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, and Ukraine, but has expanded in Norway. More or less extinct in Britain (formerly locally common in England), but since 2000, in addition to occasional one-off breeding records, often in Scotland, the species has bred at a site in Wales for three years running and in an area of SW England for four consecutive years (7 Davies, M. and Lock, L. (2016). Return of the butcher bird? Prospects for recolonisation of the Red-backed Shrike in the UK and priorities for conservation. British Birds. 109(1): 8–20. Close ). Elsewhere, numbers greatly reduced in many areas, but without apparent reduction of range on broad scale. Decline probably due mainly to loss and fragmentation of habitat resulting from afforestation and agricultural intensification, increased use of pesticides causing loss of food resources. In N & W edges of range, breeding affected by cooler, wetter summers. Increase in 1990s observed in W Europe, and resulted in recolonization of a restored peat-bog reserve (Bargerveen) in Netherlands, where this species increased from a few pairs in 1970s to 105 pairs in 1992. Spread in S & W Norway since 1970s, and expanded N in Sweden 1970–90. In Spain there has been a notable southward expansion during recent decades, mostly along the Central and Iberian ranges (8 de Juana, E., and E. Garcia (2015). The Birds of the Iberian Peninsula. Bloomsbury, London, UK. Close ). Small isolated populations nest in mountainous areas of W Syria (Anti-Lebanon), N Israel (Mt Hermon) and Lebanon.