The woodchat shrike is a member of the shrike family Laniidae. It can be identified by its red-brown crown and nape. It is mainly insectivorous and favours open wooded areas with scattered trees such as orchards, particularly when there is bare or sandy ground. The woodchat shrike breeds in southern Europe, the Middle East and northwest Africa, and winters in tropical Africa.
Woodchat shrike
Juvenile L. s. senator, Spain
L. s. senator, Spain
L. s. niloticus, Kuwait
Shrikes are passerine birds of the family Laniidae. The family is composed of 34 species in two genera.
Shrike
Shrike on a Winter Tree, silk painting by Li Di (李迪). China, Song dynasty, 1187 AD
A bee presumably caught and impaled by a shrike
Image: Southern White crowned Shrike, Eurocephalus anguitimens, gleaning ants from the early morning soil at Marakele National Park, South Africa (13952312157)