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| Red-backed Shrike | |
|---|---|
| Name | Red-backed Shrike |
| Status | LC |
| Status system | IUCN3.1 |
| Genus | Lanius |
| Species | collurio |
| Authority | Linnaeus, 1758 |
Red-backed Shrike The Red-backed Shrike is a passerine bird of the family Laniidae that breeds across temperate Europe and western Asia and migrates to southern Africa. It is notable for its striking plumage and predatory behavior, and has been the subject of studies by ornithologists associated with institutions such as the British Trust for Ornithology, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, and the Linnean Society of London. Historical records from collections at the Natural History Museum, London, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle illuminate its taxonomy and changing distribution.
Described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, the species is classified in the genus Lanius, which also includes the Great Grey Shrike, the Woodchat Shrike, and the Iberian Grey Shrike, and sits within the order Passeriformes where it has been compared to taxa studied by the American Ornithologists' Union and the European Ornithologists' Union. Molecular phylogenies published in journals affiliated with the Royal Society and contributors from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology have clarified relationships among Laniidae members such as the Masked Shrike and the Loggerhead Shrike. Common names in different national checklists reference vernacular usages recorded by the British Ornithologists' Club and the Deutsche Ornithologen-Gesellschaft.
Adult males display a reddish-brown back, grey head, and a distinctive black mask, a pattern comparable in field guides from the British Trust for Ornithology, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and the Deutscher Vogelschutzbund. Females and juveniles are more streaked and resemble species treated in monographs by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and illustrated in plates by artists associated with the Audubon Society and the Natural History Museum, Tring. Measurements reported in handbooks from the Handbook of the Birds of the World and the Collins Bird Guide give wingspan and weight statistics used by ringing programs at the European Bird Ringing Centre and the Finnish Museum of Natural History.
The breeding range extends across much of Europe from the Iberian Peninsula through Scandinavia to western Russia, and into western Central Asia, with migratory routes documented by projects at the British Trust for Ornithology, Vogelwarte Helgoland, and researchers from the University of Cambridge and University of Oxford. Wintering areas are concentrated in southern Africa, notably across regions administered by the South African National Biodiversity Institute, Namibia and Botswana, and mapped by collaborations with the Global Flyway Network and the BirdLife International Important Bird Areas program. Habitats include open scrub, hedgerows, and agricultural mosaics recorded in surveys by the European Environment Agency and conservation plans by the Rural Payments Agency in the United Kingdom.
Perching conspicuously on vantage points, the species exhibits territorial displays reported in field studies from the University of Warsaw, Uppsala University, and the University of Helsinki; song and call repertoires have been analyzed by bioacousticians at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology and archived by the Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Migratory behavior has been tracked using geolocators distributed through networks coordinated by the British Trust for Ornithology and the Swiss Ornithological Institute, revealing stopover use of sites promoted by the Ramsar Convention and the African-Eurasian Flyway Partnership.
Nesting occurs in dense shrubs and low trees where clutch size and fledging success have been quantified in long-term studies led by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Netherlands Centre for Field Ornithology, and the Institute of Ornithology of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Courtship and nest-building behaviors align with descriptions in breeding atlases published by the European Bird Census Council and captured in ringing projects coordinated by the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research and the Swedish Species Information Centre.
Predatory habits include impaling prey on thorns or barbed wire, a behavior noted in natural history accounts at the Natural History Museum, London and by ethologists connected to the University of Cambridge and the University of Copenhagen; prey items reported in stomach and pellet analyses by researchers at the University of Lisbon and the Hungarian Natural History Museum include large insects, small birds, reptiles, and small mammals, paralleling diet studies published in journals supported by the Royal Society and the European Commission's research programs.
Although currently listed as Least Concern on assessments aligned with the IUCN Red List, populations have declined regionally due to habitat loss from agricultural intensification, changes in land use overseen by agencies like the European Commission and national ministries such as the Ministry of Agriculture (Poland), and pressures documented by BirdLife International and national NGOs including the RSPB. Conservation measures promoted by the Natura 2000 network, agri-environment schemes of the European Union, and action plans drafted with input from the International Union for Conservation of Nature aim to stabilize populations through habitat restoration, monitoring by ringing schemes run by organizations like the British Trust for Ornithology and public outreach by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.
Category:Lanius