Lanius senator

Lanius senator, Photo: Michael Lahanas

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Archosauromorpha
Cladus: Crurotarsi
Divisio: Archosauria
Cladus: Avemetatarsalia
Cladus: Ornithodira
Subtaxon: Dinosauromorpha
Cladus: Dinosauriformes
Cladus: Dracohors
Cladus: Dinosauria
Cladus: Saurischia
Cladus: Eusaurischia
Subordo: Theropoda
Cladus: Neotheropoda
Cladus: Averostra
Cladus: Tetanurae
Cladus: Avetheropoda
Cladus: Coelurosauria
Cladus: Tyrannoraptora
Cladus: Maniraptoromorpha
Cladus: Maniraptoriformes
Cladus: Maniraptora
Cladus: Pennaraptora
Cladus: Paraves
Cladus: Eumaniraptora
Cladus: Avialae
Infraclassis: Aves
Cladus: Avebrevicauda
Cladus: Pygostylia
Cladus: Ornithothoraces
Cladus: Ornithuromorpha
Cladus: Carinatae
Parvclassis: Neornithes
Cohors: Neognathae
Cladus: Neoaves
Cladus: Telluraves
Cladus: Australaves
Ordo: Passeriformes
Subordo: Passeri
Infraordo: Corvida
Superfamilia: Corvoidea

Familia: Laniidae
Genus: Lanius
Species: Lanius senator
Subspecies: L. s. badius – L. s. niloticus – L. s. senator
Name

Lanius senator Linnaeus, 1758

References

Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema Naturae per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis, Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Holmiæ: impensis direct. Laurentii Salvii. i–ii, 1–824 pp DOI: 10.5962/bhl.title.542: 94. Open access Reference page.

Publications

In English
Gonzales J., Wink M., Garcia-del-Rey, E. and Castro, G. D.: Evidence from DNA nucleotide sequences and ISSR profiles indicates paraphyly in subspecies of the Southern Grey Shrike (Lanius meridionalis). In: J. Ornithol. (2008) 149, pp. 495–506.
Harris, T., Franklin K.: Shrikes & Bush-Shrikes. Helm identification Guides, London 2000, pp. 180–184; Tafel 8, ISBN 0-7136-3861-3.
Isemann, P. and Fradet G.: Is the nesting association between the Orphean Warbler (Sylvia hortensis) and the Woochat Shrike (Lanius senator) an anti-predator oriented mutualism? In: J. Ornithol. 136, 1995, pp. 288–291.
Isemann P. and Fradet G.: Nest site, laying period, and breeding success of the Woodchat Shrike (Lanius senator) in Mediterranean France. In: J. Ornithol. 139, 1998: pp. 49–54.
In Deutsch [German]
Bauer, H.-G. und Berthold, P.: Die Brutvögel Mitteleuropas. Bestand und Gefährdung. Aula, Wiesbaden 1997, ISBN 3-89104-613-8, S. 439f.
Glutz von Blotzheim, U. N. (Hrsg.): Handbuch der Vögel Mitteleuropas. Bearb. u. a. von Kurt M. Bauer und Urs N. Glutz von Blotzheim. Aula-Verlag, Wiesbaden 1985 ff. (2. Aufl.). Teilband 13/2, ISBN 3-89104-535-2, S. 1328–1365.
Panow, E. N.: Die Würger der Paläarktis. Die Neue Brehm-Bücherei Band 557. Westarp-Wissenschaften, Magdeburg 1996, ISBN 3-89432-495-3, S. 171–182.
Schaub, M.: Jagdverhalten und Zeitbudget von Rotkopfwürgern Lanius senator in der Nordwestschweiz. In: Journal für Ornithologie 137, 1996, S. 213–227.

Vernacular names
беларуская: Грычун чырвонагаловы
български: Червеноглава сврачка
català: Capsigrany
čeština: Ťuhýk rudohlavý
Deutsch: Rotkopfwürger
Ελληνικά: Κοκκινοκεφαλάς
English: Woodchat Shrike
español: Alcaudón común
euskara: Kankanote
suomi: Punapäälepinkäinen
français: Pie-grièche à tête rousse
galego: Picanzo cabecirrubio
magyar: Vörösfejű gébics
հայերեն: Շամփրուկ կարմրակատար
italiano: Averla capirossa
Nederlands: Roodkopklauwier
norsk: Rødhodevarsler
polski: Dzierzba rudogłowa
português: Picanço-barreteiro
Türkçe: Kızıl başlı örümcek kuşu

The woodchat shrike (Lanius senator) 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.
Taxonomy

The woodchat shrike was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Lanius senator.[2] Linnaeus based his description on the "red headed butcher-bird" that had been described and illustrated in 1734 by the English naturalist Eleazar Albin in the second volume of his A Natural History of Birds.[3] Linnaeus mistakenly specified the type locality as "Indiis". This was corrected to the River Rhine in Germany by Ernst Hartert in 1907.[4][5] The genus name, Lanius, is derived from the Latin word for "butcher", and some shrikes are also known as "butcher birds" because of their feeding habits. The specific senator is Latin for "senator", so-named because its chestnut cap recalled the colour of the stripe on the toga of a Roman senator.[6] The common name "woodchat" is an Anglicisation of German waldkatze, literally "woodcat",[7] and "shrike" is from Old English scríc, "shriek", referring to the shrill call.[8]

A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2019 found that within the genus Lanius the woodchat shrike was sister to the lesser grey shrike (Lanius minor), a migratory species which breeds in the Mediterranean and steppe regions of the southern Palearctic. The two species diverged from each other around 3.9–5.0 million years ago.[9]

Three subspecies are recognised:[10]

L. s. senator Linnaeus, 1758 – central, south Europe and north Africa
L. s. badius Hartlaub, 1854 – west Mediterranean Islands
L. s. niloticus (Bonaparte, 1853) – Cyprus and south Turkey to Iran

Juvenile L. s. senator, Spain
Juvenile L. s. senator, Spain
L. s. senator, Spain
L. s. senator, Spain
L. s. niloticus, Kuwait
L. s. niloticus, Kuwait

Description

The woodchat shrike is 17–19 cm (6.7–7.5 in) in overall length which is slightly larger than a red-backed shrike.[11] The male is a striking bird with black and white upper parts, a chestnut crown and pure white underparts. The race L. s. badius of the western Mediterranean lacks the large white wing patches. In the female and young birds, the upperparts are brown and white and vermiculated. Underparts are buff and also vermiculated.[12]
Distribution and habitat

The breeding range of the woodchat shrike is in southern Europe, northern Africa and the Middle East. The range extends from Portugal to Greece, Turkey, Iraq and Iran, and in the Arabian Peninsula including Bahrain and Kuwait, and from Mauritania and Western Sahara in northern Africa to Libya. This bird overwinters in tropical central Africa, its winter range extending from Senegal to Sudan and Ethiopia in the east and southwards to Gabon.[1] This species often overshoots its breeding range on spring migration, and is a rare, but annual, visitor to Great Britain. The Balearic race badius has occurred in Britain around four times as a vagrant, and has also been recorded once in Ireland.[12]
Behaviour and ecology
Breeding
Eggs

Eggs are laid from early May to mid-July. The nest is built by both sexes and is placed in a tree, usually a fruit or olive tree. The nest is a strong cup of plant material which is lined with wool, hair, fine roots, cobwebs and lichen. The nest sometimes includes green plant material. The clutch is usually 5–6 eggs which are laid daily. The eggs are glossy and vary in colour: they can be pale olive-green, sandy, greyish-yellow or brown. They have brown to pale olive speckles concentrated at the broader end. For the nominate subspecies the average size is 23 mm × 17 mm (0.91 in × 0.67 in) with a calculated weight of 3.4 g (0.12 oz). After the last egg is laid they are incubated by the female; only very rarely does the male participate. The eggs hatch after 14–15 days. The young are cared for by both parents and fledge after 15–20 days. The parents continue to feed the fledgelings up to 3 to 4 weeks of age.[13]

The longest lived woodchat shrike recorded by ring-recovery data is 5 years and eight months for a bird found dead in Germany.[14]
Food and feeding

The woodchat shrike mainly eats insects, particularly beetles, but its diet can include other invertebrates and very occasionally small mammals and small birds. It hunts by perching on an exposed lookout such as on a branch of a tree or on a fence, typically 2–6 m (7–20 ft) above the ground, and then dropping or gliding down to its prey. It also makes sallying flights after flying insects. Small insects are crushed in its bill but large insects are dismembered. Impaling prey on a thorn has been recorded but is unusual. Indigestible material such as chitin, bones and hair is regurgitated as pellets.[15]
Population

Though it remains common, the woodchat shrike has been declining for a long period. In its European range, it is listed as a threatened species in many countries, such as France,[16] Poland,[17] and Switzerland.[18] Due to its large population, estimated to be 5.9-10 million individuals,[19] it was listed as a least concern species by the IUCN since 1988. The species for a long time had battled several devastating threats, including loss of habitat due to agriculture, afforestation, excessive use of pesticides, climate change shrinking the species’ range, trans-migratory hunting, declines of insect prey and droughts. Illustration
Illustration
On a stamp of Macedonia (now North Macedonia)

References

BirdLife International (2022). "Lanius senator". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2022: e.T22705095A209744544. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-1.RLTS.T22705095A209744544.en. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1 (10th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 94.
Albin, Eleazar; Derham, William (1734). "The red headed Butcher-Bird". A Natural History of Birds : Illustrated with a Hundred and One Copper Plates, Curiously Engraven from the Life. Vol. 2. London: Printed for the author and sold by William Innys. p. 15, Plate 16.
Hartert, Ernst (1903). Die Vögel der paläarktischen Fauna (in German). Vol. 1. Berlin: R. Friedländer und Sohn. p. 434. Although dated 1903 on the title page, the section containing page 434 (Heft 4) was published in March 1907. See page xiii and: Dickinson, E.C.; Overstreet, L.K.; Dowsett, R.J.; Bruce, M.D. (2011). Priority! The Dating of Scientific Names in Ornithology: a Directory to the literature and its reviewers. Northampton, UK: Aves Press. pp. 106–107. ISBN 978-0-9568611-1-5.
Mayr, Ernst; Greenway, James C. Jr, eds. (1960). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 9. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 363.
Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 219, 353. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
"Woodchat". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
"Shrike". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
Fuchs, J.; Alström, P.; Yosef, R.; Olsson, U. (2019). "Miocene diversification of an open-habitat predatorial passerine radiation, the shrikes (Aves: Passeriformes: Laniidae)" (PDF). Zoologica Scripta. 48 (5): 571–588. doi:10.1111/zsc.12363. S2CID 202027002.
Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2022). "Shrikes, vireos, shrike-babblers". IOC World Bird List Version 12.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
Svensson, Lars; Mullarney, Killian; Zetterström, Dan (2009). Collins Bird Guide (2nd ed.). London: HarperCollins. p. 356. ISBN 978-0-00-726814-6.
Lefranc, Norbert; Worfolk, Tim (2013). Shrikes. A & C Black. pp. 159–165. ISBN 978-1-4081-8756-2.
Cramp & Perrins 1993, pp. 538–539.
"European Longevity Records". Euring: European Union for Bird Ringing. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
Cramp & Perrins 1993, pp. 529–530.
"France" (PDF).
"Polish".
"BAFU".

"Birdlife international".

Sources

Cramp, Stanley; Perrins, C.M., eds. (1993). "Lanius senator Woodchat Shrike". Handbook of the Birds of Europe the Middle East and North Africa. The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Vol. VII: Flycatchers to Strikes. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 523–542. ISBN 978-0-19-857510-8.