Lesser Grey Shrike ( Lanius minor, family: Laniidae)

Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 731 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 727 also a picture of the Lesser Grey Shrike on page 752. The Lesser Grey Shrike belongs to the family of birds classified as Laniidae.

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The Lesser Grey Shrike is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park. It is however a common summer visitor

In terms of distribution of the Lesser Grey Shrike in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Lesser Grey Shrike : see above distribution map.

The Lesser Grey Shrike.

Lesser Grey Shrike Kruger ParkIdentification assistance for this avian species ...

The Lesser Grey Shrike is a smallish bird but somewhat larger than a house sparrow. The height of the Lesser Grey Shrike is about 22 cms and its weight is about 45 gms

The male and female Lesser Grey Shrike have the same plumage and colours

  • Head is blue, grey.
  • Eye is brown.
  • Bill is black.
  • Throat is white.
  • Back is grey.
  • Legs are brown.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Lesser Grey Shrike feeds on the ground mainly

Invertebrates

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Lesser Grey Shrike takes on more than a single mate (it is bigamous).

The nesting habit of Lesser Grey Shrike is to create the nest in branches of a tree or shrub. The bird lays eggs which are in colour and number unknown

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Lesser Grey Shrike are: woodlands

You will normally see the Lesser Grey Shrike by itself rather than in the company of birds of the same species.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Unknown

Zulu ... Unknown

Afrikaans ...Gryslaksman

German ... Schwarzstirnwrger

Portuguese ... Picano-pequeno

French ... Pie-griche poitrine rose

Dutch ... Kleine Klapekster

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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 731

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za