• Skip to Content
  • Skip to Main Navigation
  • Skip to Local Navigation
  • Skip to Search
  • Skip to Sitemap
  • Skip to Footer
Help develop a Bird ID tool!

Northern Shrike

Lanius excubitor ORDER: PASSERIFORMES FAMILY: LANIIDAE

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

  • Similar Species
  • Related Species
  • Go to:

A predatory songbird, the Northern Shrike breeds in taiga and tundra and winters in southern Canada and the northern United States. It feeds on small birds, mammals, and insects, sometimes impaling them on spines or barbed wire fences.

Get BNA: the definitive resource for North American birds
Donate to Bird Cams

Appearance

Crows and Jays-like
Crows and Jays-like
Typical Voice

Adult Description

  • Medium-sized songbird.
  • Gray back.
  • Whitish throat and chest.
  • Black mask.
  • Large head.
  • Medium-long tail.
  • Stout bill with hook at end.
  • Wings black with white patch.
  • Tail black with white outer feathers.

Immature Description

Similar to adult, but more brownish, with more distinct barring on chest, and less distinct mask.

Range Map Help

Northern Shrike Range Map
View dynamic map of eBird sightings

Field MarksHelp

  • First winter
    Zoom In

    Northern Shrike

    First winter
    • © 2004 Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Long Lake NWR, North Dakota, February 2000
  • Adult
    Zoom In

    Northern Shrike

    Adult
  • Adult
    Zoom In

    Northern Shrike

    Adult
    • © Dwayne Java, Maiden Park, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, November 2010
  • Adult
    Zoom In

    Northern Shrike

    Adult
    • © Kirch Meier, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, July 2011
  • Immature
    Zoom In

    Northern Shrike

    Immature
    • © Raymond Lee, Beaver County, Alberta, Canada, October 2011
  • Immature
    Zoom In

    Northern Shrike

    Immature
  • Adult with Young
    Zoom In

    Northern Shrike

    Adult with Young

Similar Species

Similar Species

  • Loggerhead Shrike is smaller overall, with a smaller, all black bill, and a fuller black mask that often extends across the forehead. Immature Loggerhead Shrike is gray, not brownish.
  • Northern Mockingbird similarly colored, but lacks the black mask and has a narrow, pointed bill.