Red-backed shrike

    Lanius collurio

Castilian: Alcaudón dorsirrojo

Catalan: Escorxador

Gallego: Picanzo vermello

Euskera: Antzandobi arrunta

CLASIFICACIÓN:

Orden: Passeriformes

Family: Laniidae

Migratory status: Summer resident

CONSERVATION STATUS:

On the National List of Threatened Species, it appears in the “Of Special Interest” category. In the 2004 edition of the Red Book of Spanish Birds (Libro Rojo de las Aves de España) it is listed as “Not Evaluated”.

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THREATS

It is especially affected by the abandonment of traditional farming practices and the use of insecticides because they reduce the number of insects that the bird can feed on and the size of the habitat that it requires.

Length / size: 17 cm / 24-27 cm

Identification: Its powerful greyish head with a black facial disc, its white throat, and its thick, hook-tipped bill all stand out. Its wings, back and rump are reddish-brown, while its breast and underparts are light cream-coloured (in females they are greyish with small dark dots). Its long tail is black with white at the sides of the base.

Song: Quite silent. It makes a "chat-chat-chat" sound when alarmed.

Diet: It feeds on beetles and grasshoppers, bees, and wasps that it hunts with great skill; it is even capable of hunting small mammals, birds and reptiles.

Reproduction: The only clutch is laid in May. The female builds the nest, with help from the male, in thick bushes; the nest is cup-shaped and uses branches, grass and moss. The female incubates the eggs and newborn chicks while the male obtains food.

HABITAT

Varied habitat with a preference for wet areas, open shrubland areas mixed with farmland, harvested meadows and pastureland.

DISTRIBUTION

In Spain: It is found in the north and northwest of the peninsula. It is less common in the interior and is not present in the south or in the archipelagos.

In Castile and León: It is expanding in León, Burgos, Palencia and Soria, and is rarer in Ávila and Salamanca.

Movements and migrations: It is a summer nesting species that migrates frequently in Europe. After breeding season, it winters in southeastern Africa. Most specimens follow a very strange arc-shaped migration path instead of crossing from north to south.

POPULATION

In Spain: There is an estimated population of 500000 breeding pairs.

In Castile and León: There is an estimated population of 6000 breeding pairs.