| Great grey shrike | |
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| Nominate subspecies Lanius excubitor excubitor Note the striped field mouse (Apodemus agrarius) prey propped up on a thorn | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Laniidae |
| Genus: | Lanius |
| Species: | L. excubitor
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| Binomial name | |
| Lanius excubitor | |
| Subspecies | |
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See text | |
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| Native range of L. excubitor, Resident in red, breeding in yellow, non-breeding in green, and passage migrant in blue. | |
The great grey shrike (Lanius excubitor) is a large and predatory songbird species in the shrike family (Laniidae). It forms a superspecies with its parapatric southern relatives, the Iberian grey shrike (L. meridionalis), the Chinese grey shrike (L. sphenocerus) and the American loggerhead shrike (L. ludovicianus). Males and females are similar in plumage, pearly grey above with a black eye-mask and white underparts.
Breeding takes place generally north of 50° northern latitude in northern Europe and Asia. Most populations migrate south in winter to temperate regions.[2] The great grey shrike is carnivorous, with rodents making up over half its diet.
- ^ BirdLife International (2021). "Lanius excubitor". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2021: e.T103718932A200213300. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-3.RLTS.T103718932A200213300.en. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
- ^ Harris & Franklin (2000): pp. 152–153