Ормандағы Торғай (Ormandagy Torghay)

Species of bird

The woodchat shrike (Lanius senator) is a member of the shrike family Laniidae. It can be identified by its red brown crown and nape. It is mainly insectivorous and favours open wooded areas with scattered trees such as orchards, particularly when there is bare or sandy ground. The woodchat shrike breeds in southern Europe, the Middle East and northwest Africa, and winters in tropical Africa.

The woodchat shrike is in overall length which is slightly larger than a red backed shrike. The male is a striking bird with black and white upper parts, a chestnut crown and pure white underparts. The race L. s. badius of the western Mediterranean lacks the large white wing patches. In the female and young birds, the upperparts are brown and white and vermiculated. Underparts are buff and also vermiculated.

Eggs are laid from early May to mid July. The nest is built by both sexes and is placed in a tree, usually a fruit or olive tree. The nest is a strong cup of plant material which is lined with wool, hair, fine roots, cobwebs and lichen. The nest sometimes includes green plant material. The clutch is usually 5–6 eggs which are laid daily. The eggs are glossy and vary in colour: they can be pale olive green, sandy, greyish yellow or brown. They have brown to pale olive speckles concentrated at the broader end. For the nominate subspecies the average size is with a calculated weight of After the last egg is laid they are incubated by the female; only very rarely does the male participate. The eggs hatch after 14–15 days. The young are cared for by both parents and fledge after 15–20 days. The parents continue to feed the fledgelings up to 3 to 4 weeks of age. The longest lived woodchat shrike recorded by ring recovery data is 5 years and eight months for a bird found dead in Germany.

The woodchat shrike mainly eats insects, particularly beetles, but its diet can include other invertebrates and very occasionally small mammals and small birds. It hunts by perching on an exposed lookout such as on a branch of a tree or on a fence, typically above the ground, and then dropping or gliding down to its prey. It also makes sallying flights after flying insects. Small insects are crushed in its bill but large insects are dismembered. Impaling prey on a thorn has been recorded but is unusual. Indigestible material such as chitin, bones and hair is regurgitated as pellets.

Though it remains common, the woodchat shrike has been declining for a long period. In its European range, it is listed as a threatened species in many countries, such as France, Poland, and Switzerland. Due to its large population, estimated to be 5.9 10 million individuals, it was listed as a least concern species by the IUCN since 1988. The species for a long time had battled several devastating threats, including loss of habitat due to agriculture, afforestation, excessive use of pesticides, climate change shrinking the species’ range, trans migratory hunting, declines of insect prey and droughts.