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

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.
Cramp, S. and Simmons, K.E.L. (eds). 1977-1994. Handbook of the birds of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The birds of the western Palearctic. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
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
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2022	Near Threatened	A2bcde+3bcde+4bcde
2016	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Migratory status	full migrant	Forest dependency	low
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	12,000,000 km2	good
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding)	12,900,000 km2	good
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	5940000-9610000 mature individuals	medium	estimated	2018
Population trend	decreasing	medium	inferred	2016-2026
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	20-29%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	20-29%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	20-29%	-	-	-
Generation length	2.4 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	4-50	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	1-89%	-	-	-

Population justification: The European population is estimated at 1,930,000–3,120,000 pairs, which equates to 3,860,000–6,240,000 mature individuals (BirdLife International 2021). Europe forms 65% of the global range, so a very preliminary estimate of the global population size is 5,940,000-9,610,000 mature individuals.
 
The European population is declining at a rate of c. 25% over 10 years (BirdLife International 2021) and it is inferred from this and the observation that the threats considered to be driving this reduction are widespread through the range and ongoing, that there is a continuing decline in the global population.

Trend justification: The population is undergoing moderate declines throughout its range, particularly following widespread declines late in the 20^th century (Harris and Franklin 2000). Newly collated information indicates that the European population is declining at a rate of c. 25% over 10 years (BirdLife International 2021). This reflects the population decline reported by the Pan-European Common Bird Monitoring Scheme (European Bird Census Council [EBCC] 2018), and the 8.6% range contraction (at 50-km grid scale) since the 1980s reported in the 2nd European Breeding Bird Atlas (Keller et al. 2020). Europe holds c. 65% of the global breeding range, and possibly an even higher proportion of the global population, with Spain alone holding >90% of the total European population (BirdLife International 2021). The species has been declining for many decades and continues to face considerable threats due to habitat degradation from agricultural intensification and afforestation, fires, long-term climatic factors and potentially hunting (although population impacts of hunting on the species are unknown) (Tucker and Heath 1994, Hagemeijer and Blair 1997, Yosef and ISWG International Shrike Working Group 2020). These threats are expected to continue in the future. The species is also considered very local or extinct across some parts of its range and is listed under national threatened categories in many countries (Yosef and ISWG International Shrike Working Group 2020). While population trend data from outside Europe are scarce and standard monitoring is absent throughout much of the species' range (K.A. Boyla in litt. 2022), it is assumed that the global population is likely to be undergoing similar rates of decline to that of the European population, and therefore the rate of population reduction overall is placed within the band of 20-29% over 10 years.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Afghanistan	extant	vagrant				yes
Albania	extant	native		yes
Algeria	extant	native				yes
Andorra	extant	native		yes
Armenia	extant	native		yes
Austria	extant	native				yes
Azerbaijan	extant	native		yes
Bahrain	extant	native				yes
Belarus	extant	vagrant
Belgium	extant	vagrant		yes
Benin	extant	native			yes
Bosnia and Herzegovina	extant	native		yes
Bulgaria	extant	native		yes
Burkina Faso	extant	native			yes
Cameroon	extant	native			yes
Central African Republic	extant	native			yes
Chad	extant	native				yes
Congo, The Democratic Republic of the	extant	native			yes
Côte d'Ivoire	extant	native			yes
Croatia	extant	native		yes
Cyprus	extant	native		yes		yes
Czechia	extant	native				yes
Denmark	extant	vagrant
Egypt	extant	native				yes
Eritrea	extant	native			yes
Ethiopia	extant	native			yes
Finland	extant	vagrant
France	extant	native		yes
Gambia	extant	native			yes
Georgia	extant	native		yes
Germany	extant	native		yes
Ghana	extant	native			yes
Gibraltar (to UK)	extant	native		yes
Greece	extant	native		yes		yes
Guinea	extant	native			yes
Guinea-Bissau	extant	native			yes
Hungary	extant	native		yes
Iran, Islamic Republic of	extant	native	yes			yes
Iraq	extant	native		yes		yes
Ireland	extant	vagrant
Israel	extant	native		yes
Italy	extant	native		yes		yes
Jordan	extant	native		yes		yes
Kenya	extant	native			yes
Kuwait	extant	native				yes
Lebanon	extant	native		yes		yes
Liberia	extant	native			yes
Libya	extant	native				yes
Liechtenstein	extant	vagrant
Luxembourg	extant	native				yes
Mali	extant	native			yes	yes
Malta	extant	native		yes
Mauritania	extant	native				yes
Montenegro	extant	native		yes
Morocco	extant	native		yes		yes
Netherlands	extant	native				yes
Niger	extant	native				yes
Nigeria	extant	native			yes
North Macedonia	extant	native		yes
Norway	extant	vagrant
Oman	extant	native				yes
Palestine	extant	native		yes		yes
Poland	extant	native		yes
Portugal	extant	native		yes
Qatar	extant	native				yes
Romania	extant	native		yes
Russia	extant	vagrant		yes
Russia (European)	extant	vagrant		yes
Rwanda	extant	native			yes
Saudi Arabia	extant	native				yes
Senegal	extant	native			yes
Serbia	extant	native		yes
Seychelles	extant	vagrant
Sierra Leone	extant	native			yes
Slovakia	extant	native		yes
Slovenia	extant	native		yes
South Sudan	extant	native			yes
Spain	extant	native	yes
Sudan	extant	native			yes
Sweden	extant	vagrant
Switzerland	extant	native		yes
Syria	extant	native		yes		yes
Togo	extant	native			yes
Tunisia	extant	native		yes		yes
Türkiye	extant	native		yes
Uganda	extant	native			yes
Ukraine	extant	native		yes
United Arab Emirates	extant	native				yes
United Kingdom	extant	native				yes
Western Sahara	extant	native			yes	yes
Yemen	extant	native			yes	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
France	Estuaire de la Gironde : marais du Nord Médoc
France	Garonne : marais de Bordeaux
France	Hautes garrigues du Montpellierais
France	Vallée du Régino
Greece	Acheloos valley
Greece	East Lakonia mountains
Greece	Mount Mavrovouni, Larisa
Greece	Mount Taygetos
Greece	Valtou mountains

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	non-breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Rural Gardens	suitable	breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Subtropical/Tropical Heavily Degraded Former Forest	suitable	non-breeding
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	suitable	non-breeding
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	suitable	breeding
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	major	non-breeding
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	major	breeding
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical High Altitude	suitable	non-breeding
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical High Altitude	suitable	breeding
Shrubland	Mediterranean-type Shrubby Vegetation	suitable	breeding
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	major	breeding
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	major	non-breeding
Shrubland	Temperate	suitable	breeding
Altitude	0 - 2400 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, Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Species disturbance, Species mortality
Climate change & severe weather	Droughts	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Climate change & severe weather	Habitat shifting & alteration	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Climate change & severe weather	Temperature extremes	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Natural system modifications	Fire & fire suppression - Increase in fire frequency/intensity	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
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 Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Transportation & service corridors	Shipping lanes	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

Purpose	Scale
Food - human	subsistence, national
Sport hunting/specimen collecting	subsistence, national

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Woodchat Shrike Lanius senator. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/woodchat-shrike-lanius-senator on 26/12/2024.
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 26/12/2024.