Species › Birds

Woodchat Shrike

Lanius senator

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

32% of its open observations in the area are from April.

Photograph: Juan Emilio, CC BY-SA, vía iNaturalist

Length: 19 cm
Weight: 35 g

Presence in the Strait

Abundant summer visitor to open areas with scattered trees and scrub. Numbers are falling.

Identification

Red-brown crown and nape, and black eye-mask; black and white wings; white throat, rump and underparts. Long tail with white outer tail feathers. Juveniles have a highly cryptic, grey and brown plumage.

Movements

Peaks in 2nd hf. April and August.

Ring recoveries

Algeria (1), France (1), Morocco (1) and Switzerland (1).

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

32 %

Peak in April. 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 April 1921
Latest record: 8 April 2026

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): NT · Near threatened

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.

Phenology compared

Monthly distribution in proportion, by decade. It shows whether the passage is getting earlier or later.

1990–1999

2000–2009

2010–2026

Proportions, not totals: observation effort grew faster than any population.

Where they come from

4 birds ringed in other countries and recovered in the area.

Algeria1
France1
Morocco1
Switzerland1

See the journey on the map

Same genus in the Strait

Southern Grey Shrike24–24 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: 2492867

Sources

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

Woodchat Shrike

Presence in the Strait

Identification

Movements

Ring recoveries

Gallery