The Southern Grey Shrike, "Lanius meridionalis", is a member of the shrike family. It is closely related to the Great Grey Shrike, "Lanius excubitor", with which it used to be considered conspecific; where they co-occur, they do not interbreed and are separated by choice of habitat.
Similar species: Perching Birds
By Sameer Deshpande
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Uploaded Nov 28, 2018. Captured in Police Chowky, Trishul Housing Society, Saswad, Maharashtra 412301, India.
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"Shrikes: songbirds with a dark side. These small, charismatic birds are agile, expert hunters. They can spot prey on the ground from a distance of 250 meters, and can even attract unsuspecting birds by imitating their calls. They prey upon insects, rodents, lizards, and small birds, and can disable creatures that are up to three times their own body weight! When hunting, they pounce on their prey and use their powerful, hooked beaks to crack the victim's spinal cord or skull. But, unlike a raptor, the feet of shrikes aren't strong enough to hold their prey as they eat it. To overcome this obstacle, they impale their victims on the thorns of trees, bushes, or even barbed wire, where they can tear into their meals and disembowel them properly. This behavior is the source of the shrike's infamous reputation, and is the reason why they have the moniker, butcherbird. They accumulate these prey kabobs in caches called larders, which they can return to and snack on over time.
Their tactics may seem macabre, but they are practical solutions: larders provide meals when food is scarce, and are used by males to impress females during breeding season. To the unknowing observer, the shrike's innocent appearance seems to belie its predacious brutality. But, really, it's just a bird doing what it has to do in order to get by in life. {Southern Grey Shrike (Lanius meridionalis) in India by JungleDragon user, Sameer Deshpande} #JungleDragon" Posted 6 years ago