• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic note

Lanius excubitor, L. borealis and L. meridionalis (del Hoyo and Collar 2016) were previously lumped as L. excubitor following AOU (1998 and supplements), Cramp et al. (1977-1994), Dowsett and Forbes-Watson (1993) and Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993).

Taxonomic source(s)
AERC TAC. 2003. AERC TAC Checklist of bird taxa occurring in Western Palearctic region, 15th Draft. Available at: http://www.aerc.eu/DOCS/Bird_taxa_of_the_WP15.xls.
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A., Fishpool, L.D.C., Boesman, P. and Kirwan, G.M. 2016. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	A2abc+3bc+4abc

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2017	Vulnerable	A2abc+3bc+4abc
2016	Least Concern
2012	Not Recognised
2008	Not Recognised
2005	Not Recognised
2004	Least Concern
2000	Not Recognised
1994	Not Recognised
1988	Not Recognised

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	low
Land-mass type		Average mass	60 g

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	763,000 km2
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding)	882,000 km2
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	744000-1310000 mature individuals	poor	estimated	2012
Population trend	decreasing	-	estimated	2010-2022
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	30-49%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	30-49%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	30-49%	-	-	-
Generation length	4 years	-	-	-

Population justification: Population estimates from the European Red List of Birds (BirdLife International 2015) total 372,150-656,150 pairs, or 744,300-1,312,300 mature individuals. rounded here to 744,000-1,310,000 mature individuals.

Trend justification: Data from the Spanish national bird monitoring schemes shows a decline of c. 60% in Spain between 1998-2016, however much of that decline took place before 2010, since when the species’ population has fluctuated but remained broadly stable (SEO/BirdLife 2017). Over the last three generations (12 years; 2005-2016), the graph suggests a decline from c.70% of 1998 levels to c.40% of 1998 levels, which equates to a decline of c. 43% over three generations. As Spain holds c. 95% of the global population, the Spanish trend effectively describes the global trend.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Andorra	extant	native	yes
France	extant	native	yes			yes
Gibraltar (to UK)	extant	native
Portugal	extant	native	yes
Spain	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	resident
Artificial/Terrestrial	Pastureland	suitable	resident
Forest	Temperate	suitable	resident
Shrubland	Mediterranean-type Shrubby Vegetation	suitable	resident
Shrubland	Temperate	suitable	resident
Altitude	0 - 1200 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Agro-industry farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Natural system modifications	Other ecosystem modifications	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Pollution	Agricultural & forestry effluents - Herbicides and pesticides	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Indirect ecosystem effects, Ecosystem degradation

Purpose	Scale
Food - human	subsistence, national
Pets/display animals, horticulture	international

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Iberian Grey Shrike Lanius meridionalis. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/iberian-grey-shrike-lanius-meridionalis on 23/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 23/11/2024.