Sorex araneus
Silhouette: Becky Barnes · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
The common shrew (Sorex araneus), also known as the Eurasian shrew, is the most common shrew, and one of the most common mammals, throughout Northern Europe, including Great Britain, but excluding Ireland. It is 55 to 82 millimetres (2.2 to 3.2 in) long and weighs 5 to 12 grams (0.2 to 0.4 oz), and has velvety dark brown fur with a pale underside. It is one of the rare venomous mammals. Juvenile shrews have lighter fur until their first moult. The common shrew has small eyes, a pointed, mobile snout and red-tipped teeth. It has a life span of approximately 14 months.
Shrews are active day and night, taking short periods of rest between relatively long bursts of activity. Common shrews are found throughout the woodlands, grasslands, and hedgelands of Britain, Scandinavia, and Eastern Europe. Each shrew establishes a home range of 370 to 630 m2 (440 to 750 yd²). Males often extend the boundaries during the breeding season to find females. Shrews are extremely territorial and will aggressively defend their home ranges from other shrews. They make their nests underground or under dense vegetation.
The common shrew's carnivorous and insectivorous diet consists... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Białowieża National Park | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 2 | Snowdonia National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 3 | Cairngorms National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 2 | Liverpool | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 3 | Birmingham | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 4 | Leeds | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 5 | Helsinki | 🇫🇮 Finland | |
| 6 | Copenhagen | 🇩🇰 Denmark | |
| 7 | London | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 8 | Kyiv | 🇺🇦 Ukraine | |
| 9 | Moscow | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 10 | Saint Petersburg | 🇷🇺 Russia |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Common Shrew sighting in London on a given day, based on 23 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 12th most-seen of the 20 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April, June–July, September and December
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Common Shrew in London on a given day, against under 5% in January–March, May, August and October–November, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Common Shrew sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 10 cities where we can rate Common Shrew sightings, London ranks 7th at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Manchester (United Kingdom, about 10%), Liverpool (United Kingdom, about 10%) and Birmingham (United Kingdom, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Common Shrew is recorded against all the mammals logged in London (23 verified sightings), 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.
