- Woodchat Shrike
Taxobox
name = Woodchat Shrike
status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1
regnum =Animal ia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo =Passeriformes
familia = Laniidae
genus = "Lanius "
species = "L. senator"
binomial = "Lanius senator"
binomial_authority = Linnaeus, 1758The Woodchat Shrike ("Lanius senator") is a member of theshrike family Laniidae.The Woodchat breeds in southern
Europe , theMiddle East and northwestAfrica , and winters in tropical Africa. It breeds in open cultivated country, preferably with orchard trees and some bare or sandy ground.This migratory medium-sized passerine eats large insects, small birds, voles and lizards. Like other shrikes it hunts from prominent perches, and impales corpses on thorns or barbed wire as a "larder".
The male is a striking bird with black and white plumage and a chestnut crown. The race "L. s. badius" of the western
Mediterranean lacks the large white wing patches.In the female and young birds the upperparts are brown and vermiculated. Underparts are buff and also vermiculated.
This species often overshoots its breeding range on spring migration, and is a rare, but annual, visitor to
Great Britain . The Balearic race "badius" has occurred in Britain around four times as a vagrant, and has also been recorded once in Ireland.References
* Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
External links
* [http://ibc.hbw.com/ibc/phtml/especie.phtml?idEspecie=8002 Woodchat Shrike videos] on the Internet Bird Collection
* [http://www.oiseaux.net/birds/photos/woodchat.shrike.html Oiseaux] Picturss]
* [http://www.ibercajalav.net/img/404_WoodchatShrikeLsenator.pdf Ageing and sexing (PDF) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta]
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