NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Lesser Grey Shrike
Lanius minor J. F. Gmelin, 1788
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The lesser grey shrike (Lanius minor) is a passerine bird in the shrike family Laniidae. It breeds in South and Central Europe and western Asia and migrates to winter quarters in southern Africa in the early autumn, returning in spring. It is a scarce vagrant to western Europe, including Great Britain, usually as a spring or autumn erratic.
It is similar in appearance to the great grey shrike (Lanius excubitor) and the Iberian grey shrike (Lanius meridionalis); both sexes are predominantly black, white and grey, and males have pink-flushed underparts. It is slightly smaller than the great grey shrike, and has a black forehead and relatively longer wings. This species prefers dry open lowlands and is often seen on telephone wires.
This medium-sized passerine eats large insects, especially beetles, butterflies, moths and grasshoppers. Lesser grey shrikes frequently hover when hunting on their breeding grounds, but do not do so while moulting on non-breeding grounds. Like other shrikes, it hunts from prominent perches and sometimes impales corpses on thorns or barbed wire as a "larder".
Wikipedia contributors, Lesser grey shrike; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:13:02.852724+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Lanius minor J. F. Gmelin, 1788
- Name authority
- J. F. Gmelin, 1788
- Common name
- Lesser Grey Shrike
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Laniidae
- Genus
- Lanius
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyLaniidae Rafinesque, 1815
- genusLanius Linnaeus, 1758
- speciesLanius minor J. F. Gmelin, 1788
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Lanius. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Southern FiscalLanius collaris Linnaeus, 1766 | LaniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Red-backed ShrikeLanius collurio Linnaeus, 1758 | LaniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Grey-backed FiscalLanius excubitoroides Prévost & des Murs, 1847 | LaniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Northern FiscalLanius humeralis Stanley, 1814 | LaniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Mackinnon's ShrikeLanius mackinnoni Sharpe, 1891 | LaniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Iberian Grey ShrikeLanius meridionalis Temminck, 1820 | LaniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Long-tailed ShrikeLanius schach Linnaeus, 1758 | LaniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Woodchat ShrikeLanius senator Linnaeus, 1758 | LaniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Souza's ShrikeLanius souzae Barboza du Bocage, 1878 | LaniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Chinese Grey ShrikeLanius sphenocercus Cabanis, 1873 | LaniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Mountain ShrikeLanius validirostris Ogilvie-Grant, 1894 | LaniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Giant Grey ShrikeLanius giganteus Przevalski, 1887 | LaniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Lanius minor turanicus Fedyushin, 1927 Fedyushin, 1927 | synonym |
| Lanius minor minor J. F. Gmelin, 1788 J. F. Gmelin, 1788 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Gmelin, J. F. (1788). Systema Naturae, per Regna Tria Naturae: Secundum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, Cum Characteribus, Differentiis, Synonymis, Locis, Vol. 1, Part 1. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3S7BY. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.