Steppe Grey Shrike
Lanius excubitor pallidirostris Cassin, 1851 (0, 1)
Photo © Kris Webb
Sub-species
STATUS
Southern Palearctic. Monotypic.
OVERVIEW
Formerly known as Bogdanoff's Shrike, Grimm's Grey Shrike and Steppe Shrike.
It was split from Great Grey Shrike in 1996, but during 2019, the IOC demoted it back to subspecies level pending further examination of Great Grey Shrike which has 12 forms.
1950-57 RECORD
1). 1956 Fair Isle Haa, first-winter, trapped, 21st September, photo.
(K. Williamson, Fair Isle Bird Observatory Bulletin 3: 111; K. Williamson, Fair Isle Bird Observatory Report 1955-56: 25; K. Williamson, British Birds 50: 246-249, plate 41; E. V. Baxter, Scottish Birds 1: 30; Williamson, 1965; Thom, 1986).
History Kenneth Williamson (1957) in British Birds, Vol. L. pp. 246-249, says: 'A first-winter example of Lanius excubitor pallidirostris variously known as Bogdanoff's Shrike (Dresser, 1895), Grimm's Grey Shrike (Dresser, 1902), and the Steppe Shrike (Edberg, 1954), was watched, trapped and examined in the hand at Fair Isle on 21st September 1956, the first occasion on which this form has been recognized in the British Isles. With my daughter Hervör I was maintaining a watch over a group of Japanese mist-nets in crops and stubble on the afternoon of 21st September when a large and exceedingly pale grey shrike flew into the area and alighted on one of the mist-net supports. During the next hour we had it under constant observation, and were joined successively by R. F. Allison, M. K. M. Meiklejohn and (after the capture of the bird) H. A. Craw.
At the Bird Observatory it was also seen by Miss Janet M. McLellan, my wife and G. Stansfield. We found the bird remarkably confiding, and were able to get excellent close-up views and take down observations on plumage and field-characters. At first we tried to ensnare it in one or other of the nets, but it was too intent on making good vantage-points of the bamboo supports and their guys to give much hope of capture by this means. After half-an-hour or so it left the root-crops, to which it had descended from time to time for insects, and flew with deep undulations to the neighbourhood of the Haa, where there is a Heligoland trap. Eventually we were fortunate enough to catch it there - assisted by a small flock of Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) which "mobbed" the bird as it passed in front of the entrance.
It had a superficial resemblance in size, carriage and manner of flight to a Great Grey Shrike (L. e. excubitor) but was a much paler and cleaner grey, and far less wild than any Great Grey Shrike I have encountered. The under-parts were suffused with pinkish-buff, but the pale grey of the flank-feathers tended to smother the contrast between upper- and under-parts. The wing was beautifully variegated and a detailed description is given later, but it is perhaps worth noting here that the amount of white visible was greater than in excubitor and more reminiscent of the condition found in Lesser Grey Shrikes (L. minor) in 1955 (antea, Vol. XLIX. pp. 94-96). A white shoulder-patch was present as in excubitor (there is none in the Lesser Grey), but the head was very different: firstly, the broad black band behind the eye ended squarely, and was not gently rounded posteriorly as in the Great Grey; secondly, the lores were dusky, not black; and thirdly, the base of the bill was noticeably pale, appearing pale brown at a short distance, whereas the bill of the other is wholly black. The bird was provisionally identified as pallidirostris on this character coupled with the very pale coloration, and the identification was later confirmed in the laboratory with the aid of Dresser (1895, 1902), Hartert (1910) and Meinertzhagen (1954).
The shrike may well have been newly-arrived as 21st September was a fine day of moderate south-easterly wind, ahead of a weak cold front stretching from north to south of the British Isles. The weather-maps for midnight and 0600 hours (Daily Weather Report of the Meteorological Office, no. 34,637) show mist at several stations along the North Sea coasts of England, Holland, Denmark and southern Norway, and in many inland localities in western and middle Europe, the Continent being under the influence of a vast anticyclone which had been moving slowly eastwards since the 18th. During this period there had been a generally easterly airflow south of the high pressure centre from the Transcaspian region across middle and southern Europe and the northern shores of the Mediterranean basin.
Description: - The whole of the upper-parts were pale french-grey, the rump having a slight yellowish tinge; the scapulars were slightly paler with their whitish tips forming a shoulder-band, suffused with yellowish. The chief feature of the head was the broad black band on the ear-coverts, square-cut posteriorly; some of these feathers had slight brownish fringes, the lores were dusky, and there was a narrow white eyestripe. The malar region, chin and throat were whitish, the breast and upper belly pinkish-buff, and the lower portions off-white with a greyish suffusion on the flanks.
Wing. Primaries blackish-brown, their basal halves white, and the three innermost tipped with white. Primary-coverts blackish-brown, the innermost with white tips. Secondaries blackish-brown with broad white tips and outer edges. Alula dark brown, the feathers fringed whitish. Greater coverts dark brown mottled buffish towards the tips and fringed with white. Median coverts jet black, forming a bar across the mid-wing: these feathers appeared to be new in comparison with the other coverts, which were more abraded. Lesser coverts french-grey with dark tips obscured by yellowish fringes. Under wing-coverts and axillaries white.
Tail. The two outer pairs of feathers were white, the next pair black with while outer webs, white at the base and with broad white tips; the fourth pair was similar but with the white basal patch and tips reduced; the fifth pair was blackish-brown, and the middle pair dark brown.
Bill. The bill was horn-colour, the ridge of the culmen black, and both mandibles darkened perceptibly towards the tip, the underside of the lower mandible becoming black. There was a strong flesh-coloured tinge at the base of the bill, very pronounced in the field. The tarsi were blackish-brown, the claws black.
Wing-formula, 3rd primary longest, 2nd 6 mm. shorter, 1st 41 mm. shorter, or 18 mm. longer than the primary-coverts. The feathers inwards of the 3rd were shorter than it by: 4th-3 mm.; 5th-7½ mm.; 6th-15 mm.; 7th-21 mm.; 8th-25 mm.; and 9th-29 mm. The outer webs of 3rd, 4th and 5th were emarginate. In comparison with the Great Grey Shrike it should be noted that the 3rd (not 3rd and 4th) provides the wing-point, and the 2nd is slightly longer than the 5th (not slightly shorter than the 6th): the emargination and position of 1st primary are the same. In the Lesser Grey Shrike the 3rd provides the wing-point, but the 2nd is only slightly shorter, the 1st does not extend beyond the primary-coverts, and only the 3rd and 4th are emarginate.
Measurements. Chord of wing, 112 mm.; bill from skull 19 mm. and 9½ mm. at its greatest depth; tarsus 33mm. (apparently longer than in the Great Grey) and 3½ mm. thickness at the foot; tail, 105 mm. The bill-depth and tarsus thickness were taken with a Blake leg-gauge. The bird weighed 60.65 gm. We have four weight-records for the typical race, viz. 48 gm., 64.17gm., 58.07 gm., and 57.56 gm., and Weigold (1926) gives, for 4 examples of excubitor, 52-66 gm., average 60.3 gm.
Field-characters. The best field-characters are provided by the very pale grey appearance, without any strong contrast between upper- and under-parts; the abruptly squared termination of the broad black band behind the eye; and the noticeably pale base of the bill, which appears to be pale brown rather than flesh-colour at a short distance.'
NOT PROVEN
0). 1875 Essex Dedham, male, shot, late October.
(C. R. Bree, Zoologist 1875: 4721; C. R. Bree, Field 13th Nov., 1875: 543; Christy, 1890).
[H. F. Witherby, British Birds 5: 76; BOU, 1971].
History C. R. Bree of Colchester (1875) in The Zoologist, 2nd series, Vol. X. p. 4721, dated 8th November, 1875, says: 'Lanius meridionalis (Bree's Birds of Europe, Vol. II. 2nd ed. and Vol. I. 1st ed.). A specimen of this bird, which is new to our British fauna, was shot last week a few miles from town. It is a male, and had a shrew in its stomach. It must not be confounded with the bird so called by Yarrell, Lanius excubitor, which is more or less frequently a well-known visitor to our shores.
It differs in: - 1st. The four upper tail-feathers are black, sometimes slightly tipped with white, as one feather is in the present case. 2nd. It has a white superciliary ridge. 3rd. The upper parts are of a darker ash-colour. 4th. The under parts are slightly but obviously tinted with vinous. 5th. It is altogether a larger bird than L. excubitor. In the present case it is ten inches and a quarter long. I proposed in my Birds of Europe to restrict the English name of excubitor to that of the Great Grey Shrike for the present bird. It is, as far as I am aware, the only specimen ever obtained in these islands.'
C. R. Bree (1875) in The Field, of 13th November, Vol. XLVI. p. 543, says: 'A specimen of the southern Grey Shrike (Lanius meridionalis) was shot last week within a few miles of this town. It is new to the British fauna, and no doubt was blown over during the late gales. It is a male, and contained a shrew in its crop. I saw it just after the skin was taken off, with its threads on. This bird is easily distinguished from the Great Grey Shrike, known as Lanius excubitor, by: 1). Its great size. 2). Its four central tail feathers are, as a rule, entirely black. In this instance, as in others I have seen, one of them is slightly tipped with white. 3). By its darker ash colour on the back and the head. 4). By a white mark over the eye. 5). By a roseate tint on the under parts. The length of the specimen is 10¼ inches.'
Christy (1890: 105) placing the record in square brackets, says: 'Southern Grey Shrike. Dr. Bree (34. 4721 & 29. Nov. 13) records a male, shot within a few miles of Colchester during the first week of November, 1875. It had a shrew in its stomach. This, he says, was the first British specimen. He describes it fully, stating that it was 10¼ in. in length, and had the four central tail-feathers black, though one is slightly tipped with white. It appears from Dr. Bree's notes (32a) that it was "shot at Dedham the last week in Oct., 1875".
It is strange that Dr. Bree should not have entered further particulars, as this species has never otherwise been observed in Britain, either before or since, and the specimen would therefore have been of great interest. As Dr. Bree (so far as I know) never afterwards alluded to it in print, it seems probable that he subsequently discovered his identification of the specimen to be erroneous, though I am not aware that he ever corrected his record of it. I have enquired carefully of Mrs. Bree and others without being able to ascertain that the specimen still exists. It is impossible, therefore, to accept the record as authentic.'
Comment Misidentified. Not acceptable.
0). 1890 Norfolk Drayton, near Norwich, December.
(J. H. Gurney, Transactions of the Norfolk & Norwich Naturalists' Society 8: 352-353; Eds., British Birds 1: 124).
[H. F. Witherby, British Birds 5: 111; Witherby, 1920-24].
History J. H. Gurney (1906) in the Transactions of the Norfolk & Norwich Naturalists' Society, Vol. VIII. pp. 352-353, says: 'Mr. E. M. Connop, whose museum contains probably the largest collection of British killed rarities of any in England, has a Grey Shrike which differs from the ordinary British type in several important particulars. It was shot at Drayton near Norwich, in December, 1890, a month of frost as I see from my journal, and is the same one mentioned at p. 9 of Mr. Southwell’s catalogue of the Connop Collection.
On placing this bird, which is marked a male, on the table with ten other British Grey Shrikes, as well as skins of Lanius lathora, L. algeriensis and L. meridionalis, Tem., (the latter a female from Mr. Howard Saunders's collection labelled "Malaga, 14.ii.73") it appears that it comes nearest to L. meridionalis, which is generally known as the Southern Grey Shrike. Its head is much darker than a typical L. excubitor's, and its back is a couple of shades darker. The breast also, which has probably faded, is still slightly suffused with pink. Another point is that the scapulars, which in a typical L. excubitor are tipped with white, are in this bird only slightly tipped with grey.
I only find one previous announcement of the Southern Grey Shrike in England, viz. near Colchester, in November, 1875, by Dr. Bree, who records it in the Field of Nov. 13th, 1875, mentioning the dark ash-colour of the back and head, and roseate tint of the under parts, which seem to indicate correct identification, but Mr. M. Christy says the specimen is lost sight of (B. of Essex, p. 105).
Although the home of L. meridionalis is Spain and Portugal, it appears to be not uncommon in the South of France, its occasional appearance in England might therefore be predicted. Up to 1895 it had occurred once in Heligoland. I have taken the opportunity of again examining the Grey Shrike in the Museum which was some time ago provisionally identified as L. algeriensis (Zoologist, 1899, p. 126), and am confirmed in thinking that it was rightly assigned to that species. It was shot at Ranworth as long ago as February, 1857, and whatever it was then it is now a somewhat dirty specimen. On the whole this bird agrees very well with a male of L. algeriensis shot in Algeria in February.
In The Ibis for 1892, pp. 288, 374. will be found a useful key by Mr. H. E. Dresser to L. excubitor and its allies, in which he endeavours to point out what are the best marks of distinction between several closely allied Palearctic species of Shrike. It is to be expected that among such nearly allied birds hybrids should sometimes occur, and it is possible that Mr. Connop’s Shrike is one of these, in which case the parents were no doubt L. meridionalis and L. excubitor.'
In an Editorial (1907) in British Birds, Vol. I. p. 124, quoting from the Norfolk Transactions, they say: 'In part iii, Vol. VIII. of the Trans. Norf. and Norw. Nat. Soc. (1907), just issued, Mr. J. H. Gurney gives a short description of a specimen of Lanius meridionalis in the collection of Mr. E. M. Connop, which was shot at Drayton, near Norwich, in December, 1890. The author points out that the Southern Grey Shrike has only once previously been recorded as occurring in Great Britain. This record was of a specimen taken near Colchester in November, 1875, and was communicated by Dr. Bree to The Field, November 13th, of that year. This specimen is not referred to by Mr. Saunders in his Manual. The species is resident in the Spanish Peninsula and in the south-east of France.'
H. F. Witherby (1911) in British Birds, Vol. V. p. 111, says: 'In our last issue (p. 75) I referred to the identification of a Grey Shrike shot at Drayton, Norfolk, in December, 1890, and recorded by Mr. J. H. Gurney as an example of Lanius meridionalis (cf. Trans. Norf. and Norwich Nat. Soc., Vol. VIII. part iii, pp. 352-3, and B. B., Vol. I. p. 124) as being doubtfully correct. I have now, through the kindness of Mr. E. M. Connop, the owner of the specimen, been enabled to examine the bird, and find it to be an undoubted Great Grey Shrike (Lanius excubitor excubitor). The upper-parts are of a rather darker grey than is usual in specimens of this species, but they are not nearly so dark as those of Lanius meridionalis, while on the breast there is a tinge of pink, but nothing like the strong pink wash of the Southern Grey Shrike. Moreover, the wing of the bird in question measures 114mm., while that of L. meridionalis very seldom reaches 110, and is usually from 102 to 105 mm. The Southern Grey Shrike also has a distinct white line on the lores and forehead, which is altogether absent in this specimen. I have submitted the specimen to Dr. Hartert who entirely confirms my opinion, and tells me that there are equally dark, and even darker, examples of Lanius excubitor from England and western Germany in the Tring Museum. Dr. Hartert also states that a faint indication of pink on the breast is frequently found in not very old specimens of Lanius excubitor, but nothing to approach the pink of L. meridionalis. The specimen recorded by Mr. Nichols from Sussex (supra, p. 75) is therefore the only authentic example of Lanius meridionalis obtained in this country.'
Comment Misidentified. Not acceptable.
0). 1911 Sussex Near Pett, male, 2nd January.
(J. B. Nichols, British Birds 5: 75-76; E. N. Bloomfield, Hastings & East Sussex Naturalist 2: 2; Walpole-Bond, 1938).
[E. M. Nicholson & I. J. Ferguson-Lees, British Birds 55: 299-384 HR].
History J. B. Nichols (1911) in British Birds, Vol. V. pp. 75-76, says: 'On January 2nd, 1911, a male Southern Grey Shrike (Lanius meridionalis) was shot near Pett, Hastings, Sussex, and was examined in the flesh by Mr. Ruskin Butterfield. This, I believe, is the third example of this species in Great Britain.'
[The only previous example I know of is that recorded by Mr. J. H. Gurney as obtained near Norwich in December, 1890 (cf. Vol. I. p. 124), and the identification of this specimen seems rather uncertain. One was recorded by Dr. Bree as taken near Colchester in November, 1875, but this has not been accepted as an authentic example. I have examined Mr. Nichols's specimen, and find that it compares exactly with examples collected by me in southern Spain. - H.F.W.]
Accepted locally (Walpole-Bond 1938 (1): 322).
Comment Hastings rarity. Not acceptable.
