Lesser grey shrike facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Lesser grey shrike |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Lanius
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| Species: |
minor
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| Range of L. minor Breeding Non-breeding | |
The lesser grey shrike (Lanius minor) is a cool bird from the shrike family. It spends its summers in South and Central Europe and western Asia. When autumn arrives, it flies all the way to southern Africa for the winter. Then, in spring, it flies back north again. Sometimes, it gets a bit lost and ends up in places like Great Britain, which is unusual for this bird.
This shrike looks a lot like its cousins, the great grey shrike and the Iberian grey shrike. Both male and female lesser grey shrikes are mostly black, white, and grey. The males also have a pretty pink color on their bellies. It's a bit smaller than the great grey shrike. You can spot it by its black forehead and longer wings. This bird loves dry, open areas and you'll often see it sitting on telephone wires.
This medium-sized passerine loves to eat big insects. Its favorite snacks include beetles, butterflies, moths, and grasshoppers. Lesser grey shrikes often hover in the air when they are hunting for food. Like other shrikes, it hunts from high spots. Sometimes, it even sticks its prey onto thorns or barbed wire. This is like a "larder" or pantry for later!
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About the Lesser Grey Shrike's Name
The lesser grey shrike got its official name, Lanius minor, in 1788. A German scientist named Johann Friedrich Gmelin gave it this name. He based his description on notes from a French scientist, the Comte de Buffon.
The first part of its name, Lanius, comes from a Latin word meaning "butcher". This is why some shrikes are called "butcher birds." It's because of how they hunt and store their food. The second part, minor, is Latin for "smaller." This fits because it's smaller than some other shrikes. The English name "shrike" comes from an old word meaning "shriek." This refers to its loud call. This bird is considered a single species, meaning there are no different types or subspecies.
Scientists have studied the family tree of the Lanius birds. They found that the lesser grey shrike is closely related to the woodchat shrike. These two species started to become different from each other millions of years ago.
What the Lesser Grey Shrike Looks Like
The adult male lesser grey shrike has a black head, including its forehead, cheeks, and around its eyes. The back of its head and its back are a pale bluish-grey. Its lower back is a similar, lighter grey. Its belly and chest are white with a soft pink color. The feathers under its wings are greyish-white and brownish-black.
Its two middle tail feathers are black with white tips and bases. The other tail feathers have more white and less black. Its main wing feathers are black with buff tips and white bases. The other wing feathers are black with wider, paler tips. The feathers covering its wings are black, with some grey edges.
The female shrike looks similar but her head is dark grey instead of black. Her ear feathers are brownish-black. Her upper body is brownish-grey, and her belly is less pink than the male's.
Young shrikes look like the adults but are more brown overall. They don't have the grey back and lower back. Instead, these parts are pale brown and have faint bars. Their bellies are white and cream, without any pink.
All lesser grey shrikes have a brownish-black beak. The bottom part of the beak is lighter. They have brown eyes and black legs and feet. An adult bird is about 20 cm (8 inches) long. Its wing is about 13 cm (5 inches) long.
Where Lesser Grey Shrikes Live
The lesser grey shrike spends its summer in South and Central Europe and western Asia. It breeds in many countries, including southern France, Switzerland, Italy, and Ukraine. In Asia, it breeds in the Middle East, reaching as far as Turkey and Iran.
Sometimes, it travels to more northern parts of Europe, like Sweden or the United Kingdom. This usually happens in spring or autumn. It's a migratory bird. This means it flies long distances for the winter. It spends winter in a wide area across tropical southern Africa.
In summer, the lesser grey shrike lives in open countryside. It likes the edges of farm fields, heathland with bushes and trees, gardens, and trees along roads. In winter, you'll usually find it in scrubland and among thorn trees.
How Lesser Grey Shrikes Behave
The lesser grey shrike hunts from a high spot. This could be a post, a wire, or a branch. It mainly eats insects, catching them in the air or on the ground. Its diet includes beetles, moths, butterflies, large flies, grasshoppers, crickets, and millipedes. It also eats some fruits, like cherries and figs, but not much.
This bird sometimes sticks freshly caught prey onto thorns. This is to save it for later, like a "larder." However, it doesn't do this as much as some other shrike species. Scientists have found that this bird only creates a larder when it has eaten enough and is full. Food items are not always plentiful enough for this to happen. The male shrike has been seen feeding the female before starting to store food.
The lesser grey shrike flies low to the ground. Its flight is a bit wavy, and it sometimes glides with its wings spread out. At the end of its flight, it swoops up to land on a new hunting spot. Then, it turns its head from side to side, looking for prey. When it's on the ground, it hops. But it usually only stays there long enough to pick up food. Like other shrikes, when it's excited, it fans its tail. It also moves its tail up and down or side to side. This bird is quite brave. It will fiercely defend its nest and chase away bigger birds.
Life Cycle and Reproduction
The nest is often built in a tree near a road. This gives the birds a good view all around. It's usually 4 to 10 meters (13 to 33 feet) off the ground. Both the male and female birds build the nest. They use stems from plants like cudweed and thyme. They line the nest with soft materials like wool, hairs, roots, and feathers.
A female shrike usually lays five to seven eggs. The eggs are often bluish-green with greenish-brown spots. Sometimes, they are cream or buff with pinkish-brown spots. Their average size is about 2.6 cm by 1.8 cm (1 inch by 0.7 inches).
The female bird does most of the incubation, which means sitting on the eggs to keep them warm. This lasts about fifteen days. Both parents help feed the young birds. The young are ready to leave the nest after about fourteen days. Usually, these birds only have one group of young each year.
Status and Challenges
There are an estimated two and a half to nine million lesser grey shrikes in the world. They live across a very wide area. Because of this, the IUCN, which keeps a Red List of Threatened Species, says the bird is of "Least Concern". This means it's not currently in danger of disappearing. Even though the number of birds might be going down a little, it's not enough to make it a "Vulnerable" species yet.
However, in Europe, the number of lesser grey shrikes has been getting smaller. There are now thought to be only three to five thousand breeding pairs. This drop in numbers might be because of several wet summers. Wet weather can mean fewer insects for the birds to eat. Another reason could be changes in farming. Small fields with different crops and patches of woodland are being replaced by very large fields. This takes away the kind of habitat the shrike likes. Because of these reasons, this bird is listed as a threatened species in a European law called the Birds Directive.
