Lesser Grey Shrike
Photo: Derek Keats · CC BY 2.0

Shrikes

Lesser Grey Shrike

Lanius minor

LCLeast Concern
Family
Shrikes (Laniidae)
Order
Passeriformes

Overview

The lesser grey shrike (Lanius minor) is a passerine bird in the shrike family Laniidae. It breeds in South and Central Europe and western Asia and migrates to winter quarters in southern Africa in the early autumn, returning in spring. It is a scarce vagrant to western Europe, including Great Britain, usually as a spring or autumn erratic.
It is similar in appearance to the great grey shrike (Lanius excubitor) and the Iberian grey shrike (Lanius meridionalis); both sexes are predominantly black, white and grey, and males have pink-flushed underparts.

Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Range and habitat

Breeds Iberian Peninsula to Siberia and central Asia; winters to southern Africa.

Range description: AviList Global Avian Checklist.

Sources and further reading

Last updated September 29, 2026.