Red-backed Shrike (Lanius collurio) [XC746654]
by Jordi Calvet from Pallars Sobir\u00e0 (near Farrera), Lleida, Catalunya, Spain (call)
Red-backed Shrike (Lanius collurio) [XC727772]
by Alan Dalton from Sundsvall, V\u00e4sternorrlands l\u00e4n, Sweden (imitation, song, mimicry\/imitation)
Nest
A loose cup of plant materials, in a bush about 1 meter above the ground, with a compact lining.
Eggs (Guide)
3 - 7; very variable ground color with multicolored spots at the larger end.
Subspecies
Thought to form a superspecies with Brown Shrike (Lanius cristatus) and Isabelline Shrike (Lanius isabellinus). Has been considered conspecific with one or both.
Subspecies intergrade. Proposed subspecies, juxtus (described from east Suffolk, in eastern England), is indistinguishable from nominate.
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
collurio Linnaeus, 1758 - Breeds Europe (except north, north-western and south-west) east to western Siberia, south to northern Iberia, Sardinia, southern Italy, Sicily, Balkans (south to Croatia), central Romania, Ukraine, and plains north of Caucasus. Non-breeding southern and eastern Africa.
kobylini Buturlin, 1906 - Breeds Balkans (southern from Bosnia) east to Crimea and Caucasus, south to Asia Minor, Cyprus and north-western Iran. Non-breeding southern and eastern Africa.
pallidifrons H. C. Johansen, 1952 - Breeds western and west-central Siberia (east to north-western Altai). Non-breeding southern and eastern Africa.
The Reader's Digest Book of British Birds 1980, 3rd Edition, Drive Publications Ltd ISBN 0 340 25308 8
Birds in Colour Campbell, B., 1960, Penguin Books Ltd
The Pocket Guide to Nest and Eggs Fitter, R.S.R., 1954, Collins
RSPB Handbook of British Birds Holden, P., Cleeves, T., 2002, A & C Black ISBN 0 7136 5713 8
Birds of Britain and Europe Sterry, P., et al., 2001, AA Publishing ISBN 0 7495 3068 5
The Popular Handbook of British Birds Hollom, P.A.D., 1973, H.F. & G. Witherby Ltd ISBN 0 85493 002 7