page_title: Great grey shrike
section_title: Breeding and life history
hierarchical_section_title: Great grey shrike / Behaviour / Breeding and life history
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch&#x3a;&#32; Ei von Nördliche Raubwürger. Sammlung Jacques Perrin de Brichambaut.English&#x3a;&#32; Egg of Great Grey Shrike. Collection of Jacques Perrin de Brichambaut.Français&#x202f;&#x3a;&#32; Œuf de Pie-grièche grise. Collection de Jacques Perrin de Brichambaut.
context_page_description: The great grey shrike is a large songbird species in the shrike family. It forms a superspecies with its parapatric southern relatives, the Iberian grey shrike, the Chinese grey shrike and the loggerhead shrike. 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.
context_section_description: Great grey shrikes breed during the summer, typically once per year. In exceptionally good conditions, they raise two broods a year, and if the first clutch is destroyed before hatching they are usually able to produce a second one. Their monogamous pair bond is strong during the breeding season and loosens over winter; birds often choose a different mate than the year before. To seek out potential mates, males will venture outside their breeding territories. If a female thus encountered finds a male to her liking, she will visit to see whether they get along well and inspect the nesting sites he can offer. The courtship period is generally longer than in the Iberian grey shrike (L. meridionalis), usually starting about March and lasting to April/May. At first, the female rebuffs the male, only allowing him to feed her. Males give increasingly vocal displays and show off the white markings of the wings in flight and of the tail by fanning it and turning away from the female. He also occasionally turns to sit at a right angle to her. Eventually, the female will join in the male's displays, and the songs will become duets. To feed females and to show off their hunting prowess, males will make their food caches in conspicuous places during this time. When presenting nesting sites, males give the variety of calls described above and jerk their head and fanned tail.
  Copulation is typically initiated by the male bringing an attractive prey item to the female. With both giving begging calls, they approach until they are side by side. The male then raises and swings his body left and right a few times, and passes the prey to the female, followed by the actual copulation. The gatherings of neighbour groups (see above) cease when nesting is underway, and when the eggs are nearly ready to lay, the male guards his partner closely, perching higher than her to watch for threats and frequently feeding her. This apparently ensures her physical well-being rather than preventing extra-pair copulations, as neighbouring males will stray through each other's territory to snatch a quick fling with the resident females. In this, they have almost a one-in-three chance of success, and consequently the average grey shrike nest is very likely to contain offspring of more than one male. Females may deposit their eggs in neighbours' nests, but this seems to occur more rarely; in general, mated females are fairly reclusive after their eggs have started developing. A full clutch of eggs can be produced by a female in about 10–15 days.
  Nests are built in April or May more than 1 m (3.3 ft) above ground in trees. This height varies according to habitat, but while nests have been found almost 40 m (44 yd) up, most are 2–16 m above ground. Presence of mistletoes or vines like common ivy (Hedera helix) on side branches near the trunk (where nests are preferentially built) will make a tree markedly more attractive. Fieldfares (Turdus pilaris) nesting in the vicinity will also increase the desirability of nest sites to great grey shrikes, which moreover often refuse to prey upon these thrushes' nestlings though the opportunity is there. Apparently, the two species are more efficient in spotting potential nest predators – in particular corvids – early on and mobbing them off cooperatively than either is on its own. Otherwise, there is no clear preference for particular taxa of nesting trees, provided they are sufficiently dense. Conifers seem to have become more popular with European L. excubitor in recent decades, but a diversity of deciduous trees is used just as well. Far more rarely, large and especially thorny shrubs are used for nesting. The actual nesting site is chosen by the male; the courtship visits of the female are mainly to form and strengthen the pair bond. Also, though the partners build the nest together, the male collects most of the nesting material. The cup nest is quite sizable, measuring 20–28 cm (7.9–11.0 in) in outer diameter. Its body is constructed of coarse vegetable material – mainly large twigs and chunks of moss, though bits of f
caption: Eggs from Ménil-en-Xaintois (France) at MHNT
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