Lanius excubitor
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week ~90%
The great grey shrike (Lanius excubitor) is a large and predatory songbird species in the shrike family (Laniidae). It forms a superspecies with its parapatric southern relatives, the Iberian grey shrike (L. meridionalis), the Chinese grey shrike (L. sphenocerus) and the American loggerhead shrike (L. ludovicianus). Males and females are similar in plumage, pearly grey above with a black eye-mask and white underparts.
Breeding takes place generally north of 50° northern latitude in northern Europe and Asia. Most populations migrate south in winter to temperate regions. The great grey shrike is carnivorous, with rodents making up over half its diet.
The species was first scientifically described by the Swedish physician Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 edition of Systema Naturae under the current binomial name. His description is L[anius] cauda cuneiformi lateribus alba, dorso cano, alis nigris macula alba – "a shrike with a wedge-shaped white-bordered tail, back grey, wings black with white spot". At that time, none of the other grey shrikes – including the lesser grey shrike (L. minor), for which the description of the tail pattern is incorrect and which some... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Biebrza National Park | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 2 | Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park | 🇲🇳 Mongolia | |
| 3 | Hortobágy National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 4 | Białowieża National Park | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 5 | Kiskunság National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 6 | Fertő-Hanság National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 7 | Ranthambore National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Awash National Park | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 9 | Gauja National Park | 🇱🇻 Latvia | |
| 10 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 11 | Cairngorms National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 12 | Keoladeo National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 13 | Jim Corbett National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 14 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tunis | 🇹🇳 Tunisia | |
| 2 | Kuwait City | 🇰🇼 Kuwait | |
| 3 | Novosibirsk | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 4 | Rabat | 🇲🇦 Morocco | |
| 5 | Riyadh | 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia | |
| 6 | Marrakesh | 🇲🇦 Morocco | |
| 7 | Yekaterinburg | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 8 | Ramallah | 🇵🇸 Palestine | |
| 9 | Cairo | 🇪🇬 Egypt | |
| 10 | Abu Dhabi | 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Green Planet | 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Great Grey Shrike sighting in Biebrza National Park on a given day, based on 575 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 43rd most-seen of the 202 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March
In that month about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Great Grey Shrike in Biebrza National Park on a given day, against about 20% in August, the lowest month.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Great Grey Shrike sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 14 parks where we can rate Great Grey Shrike sightings, Biebrza National Park has the highest daily chance: about 30%. Next come Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park (Mongolia, about 20%) and Hortobágy National Park (Hungary, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Great Grey Shrike is recorded against all the birds logged in Biebrza National Park (575 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
