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Iberian Grey Shrike - BirdForum Opus

Revision as of 01:22, 21 March 2021 by Njlarsen (talk | contribs) (typo)
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L. m. meridionalis, adult
Photo by Peteee23
Coto Doñana, Spain, November 2009
Lanius meridionalis

Identification

Length 24-25 cm (9½-9¾ in), weight 50-70 g
A large grey shrike. Crown, mantle and rump dark grey; black 'mask' with a narrow white supercilium ending just behind the eye; inner scapulars usually white; wing black with white patch at base of primaries; tail long, black-centered with white edges; underparts pinkish-grey, except for white throat; bill black (pale-based in juveniles).

Similar species

Much overlap in characters with Great Grey Shrike, but the pinkish underside is rare in that species. Iberian Grey Shrike does not have white tips on secondaries and tertials, contra Great Grey Shrike.

Distribution

Europe: southern France, Spain and Portugal.
Northern Africa: identified as a vagrant in Morocco

Taxonomy

Split from Great Grey Shrike, initially as a part of Southern Grey Shrike and now isolated as Iberian Grey Shrike. [3].

Subspecies

This is a monotypic species[1].

Habitat

Dry open country.

Behaviour

Behaviour is similar to other shrikes, using prominent perches and impaling corpses on thorns and barbed wire spikes.

Migration

Mostly resident or short-distance nomadic, but L. m. pallidirostris often migratory, many moving to northeast Africa as far south as Ethiopia and Somalia.

Diet

The diet includes large insects, small birds, rodents and lizards.

References

  1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
  2. Del Hoyo, J, A Elliott, and D Christie, eds. 2008. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 13: Penduline-tits to Shrikes. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8496553453
  3. Gill F, D Donsker & P Rasmussen (Eds). 2021. IOC World Bird List (v11.1). doi : 10.14344/IOC.ML.11.1. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/#Svensson, L., et al. (2009). Collins Bird Guide, 2nd ed., revised. Collins.
  4. Yosef, R., ISWG International Shrike Working Group, C. J. Sharpe, J. S. Marks, and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Iberian Gray Shrike (Lanius meridionalis), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.ibgshr1.01

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