Scientific name: Lanius senator Linnaeus, 1758
Bird group: Shrikes
Field characters. 17 cm. Black and white shrike, resembling Masked Shrike. Adult has rufous-red crown and neck, extensive black mask, black upperparts and wings and white shoulders, wing patches, sides of tail, rump and underparts. Female resembles male, but is duller. Juvenile brown and strongly barred, difficult to distinguish from juvenile Masked and Red-backed Shrike. Bill stronger than in Masked Shrike, body shorter and thicker, and tail relatively shorter. Perches on fences, poles, and trees, like other shrikes, but more often sits in foliage.
Voice. Call 'check' or 'kwik'. Song variable, with soft whistling notes, alarm calls and warbles.
Distribution. Rather common summer visitor.
Habitat. Open woodland, orchards, fields with scattered trees, etc.
Food. Mainly large insects. More insectivorous than Lesser and Great Grey Shrike and Red-backed Shrike, but occasionally takes vertebrates. Hunts from perch, like other shrikes.