Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index Lesser Grey Shrike Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Passeriformes Family: Laniidae Genus: Lanius Species: minor Binomial name Lanius minor The Lesser Grey Shrike Lanius minor is a member of the shrike family Laniidae. It is similar in appearance to the Great Grey Shrike Lanius excubitor and the Southern Grey Shrike L. meridionalis . It breeds in southeastern Europe into Asia. This species prefers dry open lowlands, and is prominent on telephone wires. It is slightly smaller and than Great Grey Shrike, and has a black forehead and relatively longer wings. This medium-sized migratory passerine eats large insects, small birds, rodents and lizards. Like other shrikes it hunts from prominent perches, and impales corpses on thorns or barbed wire as a “larder’’. It is a scarce vagrant to western Europe, including Great Britain, usually as a spring overshoot. This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.