On eBird ↗
Iberian Gray Shrike
Live sightings near you, the range map, bar charts of when it is seen, and Macaulay Library photos and recordings.
Iberian Grey Shrike
Lanius meridionalis
The Iberian grey shrike (Lanius meridionalis) is a species of shrike endemic to southwestern Europe. It is closely related to the great grey shrike, Lanius excubitor, and its plumage is generally similar to it apart from the differences noted below. The Iberian was previously considered conspecific with the great grey; where they co-occur, they do not interbreed and are separated by choice of habitat.
From the article Iberian grey shrike on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Description
The Iberian grey shrike is similar in size to the great grey shrikes found in northern Europe but is may have a slightly larger head, stronger bill and thinner tail. The plumage of the Iberian grey shrike is much darker grey above, especially on the crown, nape and mantle and there is a greyish-pink hue to the breast and belly. The black mask is wider and there is a clearer white supercilium. There is a moderately large white patch on the primaries but no white on the secondaries. Juveniles are less distinctive.
Range & habitat
The Iberian grey shrike is endemic to southwestern Europe where it occurs across most of the Iberian Peninsula, extending into southern France. It breeds in open habitats, such as open, dry plains, typically on limestone heath or stony grassland with some scrub and single trees and bushes trees and bushes.
Wikipedia: “Distribution and habitat”
What it does
This medium-sized passerine bird eats large insects, small birds and rodents. Like other shrikes it hunts from prominent perches, and impales corpses on thorns or barbed wire as a "larder".
Wikipedia: “Behaviour and ecology”
Listen
Looking for field recordings…
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Lanius meridionalis in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 906982.