Northern Shrike (Lanius borealis)
About the Northern Shrike
The northern shrike (Lanius borealis) is a large songbird species in the shrike family (Laniidae) native to North America and Siberia. Long considered a subspecies of the great grey shrike, it was classified as a distinct species in 2017. Six subspecies are recognised. The northern shrike was formally described by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1808 under its present binomial name Lanius borealis. In the 19th century, North American ornithologists considered it as a separate species from the great grey shrike, while European authorities held them to be the same species. American ornithologist Alden H. Miller investigated differences between the Siberian and Alaskan populations in 1930 and could find no consistent differences, hence he recommended combining the two into Lanius excubitor.
No audio on this page yet
We only publish recordings we may use commercially, because this site is supported by ads. xeno-canto lists 43 recordings for this species: 10 CC BY-NC-SA. None of them permits commercial use, so there is no player here — the page is kept as a profile so the bird is not missing from the guide.
As soon as someone uploads a freely licensed recording, we mirror it and the player appears here.
Listed as recorded in Canada, Japan, United States in the xeno-canto catalogue.
Related species you can hear
- Brown ShrikeLanius cristatusrecording
- Bull-headed ShrikeLanius bucephalusrecording
- Great Grey ShrikeLanius excubitorrecording
- Loggerhead ShrikeLanius ludovicianusrecording
- Long-tailed FiscalLanius cabanisirecording
- Northern FiscalLanius humeralisrecording
This species has no recording here yet — these relatives do, so you can hear what the family sounds like.