Southern Grey Shrike

Lanius meridionalis

Order: Passeriformes
Family: Laniidae
Presence in the Strait: Seasonal
Abundance: scarce
Protection in Spain: Special protection (List)
In Spanish: Alcaudón real

Photograph: euqirneto, CC BY, vía iNaturalist

Length: 24 cm
Weight: 60 g

Presence in the Strait

Scarce winter visitor to open fields with trees and scrub. The Iberian population has recently been split from the Northern population Lanius excubitor.

Identification

Medium-sized, greyish back, black wings with white wing-patch and broad black eye-mask; underparts are white with pinkish hue; long, black tail with white outer tail feathers.

Movements

Very long migration. Postnuptial migration is more evident with peaks in 2nd hf. August and 1st hf. September; prenuptial migration in 1st hf. April.

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 8 September 2026.

Photographs from iNaturalist observations with the licence checked file by file. Those marked “Strait” were taken within the area; place and date are those of each observation.

Calendar in the Strait

28 %

Peak in September. Observations under CC0 or CC BY licences. The distribution also reflects observation effort.

Where it is seen

Open records from the atlas database, in cells of about 3.6 km. Opacity follows the square root of the count, and also reflects where people observe most.

See on the map

First open record: 29 July 1969
Latest record: 11 September 2024

The oldest and the most recent open observation in the extended area. A recent first observation does not mean the species is new: it means nobody had published it openly before.

Conservation

The catalogues, Andalusian and Spanish, are what binds; the Red Book assesses the Spanish population with IUCN criteria, and the global Red List is the context.

LCNTVUENCR

Andalusian Catalogue: Special protection (List)
Spanish Catalogue: Special protection (List)
Red Book of the Birds of Spain 2021: EN · Endangered · breeding
Global Red List (IUCN): VU · Vulnerable

Andalusian Catalogue: Junta de Andalucía, list of 24 April 2025. Spanish Catalogue: MITECO, table of 30 June 2025. Red Book: SEO/BirdLife, 2021 (Annex I). IUCN: via GBIF, 6 September 2026. Red Book and IUCN categories are assessments; catalogue categories are legal obligations.

Same genus in the Strait

Woodchat Shrike19–19 cm · Seasonal
Red-backed Shrike17–17 cm · Vagrant

Species of the same genus that also occur here, ordered by how close they are in size. Being relatives does not mean they are confused in the field, but that is where the doubts start: compare size and season.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Laniidae
GBIF taxon key: 7341500

Sources

Distribution and calendar: Bioestrecho's own database, ingested from GBIF and OBIS
Photograph: euqirneto, CC BY, vía iNaturalist
Taxonomy: GBIF backbone, pending WoRMS for marine taxa
Editorial text: written by Bioestrecho
Last revised: 8 September 2026

Southern Grey Shrike

Presence in the Strait

Identification

Movements

Gallery