The Great Grey Shrike (Lanius excubitor) is Sweden's largest shrike, 22–26 cm long with a wingspan of about 30–36 cm and a weight of 55–80 g. It is clean pearl-grey above and white below, with a broad black mask running through the eye. The black wings show a conspicuous white patch, and the long black tail has white edges; the stout bill carries a small hooked tip, a raptor-like feature that hints at the bird's predatory habits. It perches upright and prominent atop a bush or tree and flies with a bounding, undulating action, its overall grey, white and black pattern making it unmistakable, especially in winter.
The call is a harsh, grating "schrreck" or "trää"; the song itself is a subdued, twittering mix of the bird's own notes and mimicry of other species, heard sparingly and mainly on the breeding grounds. The Great Grey Shrike breeds in northern Sweden, chiefly across the forest and mire landscapes of Norrland, but in winter birds spread south and the species then occurs throughout the country except the open mountains, becoming a familiar sight in open lowland farmland — many Swedish birdwatchers know it primarily as a winter visitor. The Swedish population is put at a few thousand pairs, classed as Least Concern; it is a short-distance migrant, with some southern birds resident year-round. The nest is a sturdy cup of twigs, grass and moss, often built in a dense spruce or juniper; the female lays 5–7 eggs and does most of the incubating over roughly two weeks, and chicks fledge in just under three weeks. A skilled hunter, it takes voles and other small rodents, small birds and large insects from a perch, dropping onto prey and dispatching it with a powerful bite to the neck, then impales surplus kills on thorns or barbed wire as a larder for leaner times.
Read about this species in Swedish →