| .שאר-םודא ןקנח (370 | ||||||||||
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ופועמ ןמזב .םימודאה ופרועו ושאר תפיכב טלוב ינקמחו ןטק ןקנח :שאר-םודא ןקנח | ||||||||||
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Subspecies and Distribution.
L. s. senator Europe S to Pyrenees, mainland Italy, Sicily, Cyrenaica, Greece, and W Turkey. L. s. rutilans Iberia and N-W Africa. L. s. badius Balearic Islands, Corsica, Sardinia, and Capraia. L. s. niloticus from Cyprus, Levant, and E Asia Minor E to Iran. | ||||||||||
Descriptive notes.18 cm, 30-37 g, wingspan 26-28 cm. Medium-sized, somewhat skulking shrike, with adult almost totally pied except for chestnut rear crown and hindneck but immature intermediate in appearance between immature Lesser Grey Shrike, and 'red tailed' shrikes, particularly Red-backed Shrike.Male has center of forehead, forecrown, lower lore, and broad patch around eye and over ear-coverts black, with small white spot on rear crown, nape, and uper mantle. Rest of mantle brown-black, with cream-white scapulars which form on sides of back most conspicuous patch of all shrikes, back grey, rump and upper tail-coverts white. Tail black, with fringes and tis increasingly white from center to edge but not particularly bold. Wings brown-black, with quite broad white patch across base of primaries and white tips to tertials and secondaries. Sexes dissimilar, little seasonal variation. HabitatBreeds in west Palerctic in middle and lower middle latitudes mainly in Mediterranean climatic zone, but extending in west into temperate zone, and in S-E to edge of steppe and desert. On plain and lower slopes of large open valleys and requiring fairly tall trees, these must be well spaced in open woodland, garden, or meadows, with plenty of room between lower branches and ground, which should either be bare or carry only very low plant cover. Also occupies roadside trees, woodland margins near cultivation, and parks or hedges with large thorny bushes.Food and FeedingMainly insects and other invertebrates, principally beetles, occasionally small vertebrates.Perches on exposed look-out from which drops or glides down onto ground prey or makes sallying flights after flying insects. Breeding.May to mid Jul in Germany, mid May to erly Jul in France, late Apr-May in Spain, erly May to late Jun in Greece, leat Apr to late May in Algeria and late Mar to mid Jun in Israel.Nest site, in trees, especially fruit trees and olive in fork of trunk. Nest, strong cup of leafy plant material and roots lined with wool, hair, fine roots, cobwebs, moss, and lichen. 5-6 eggs, sub-elliptical, smooth and glossy. Pale to olive-green, aslo sandy or greyish-yellow and more rarely reddish-yellow or brown. Brown to pale olive speckles and blotches concentrated in circle at broad end, exceptionally also at narrow end. Incubation 14-15 days by female, rarely also by male. Movements.Migratory, wintering in sub-Saharan Africa N of Equator, and in small numbers in southern Arabia.Western races (senator, rutilans, and badius, breeding Europe and N-W Africa). Winter quarters lie from southern Mauritania and S Niger E to extreme W of Sudan, and S to N-E Zaire. Middle East race, neloticus, Winters in N-E Africa, from Darfur in W Sudan to Eritrea, S to N-E Zaire, N Uganda, and W Kenya, and scattered records in Tanzania, and Arabia. Status and ConservationNot globally threatened. Marked contraction and reduction in N and W of breeding range during this century, but some extension in Balkands.Israel.In Israel two subspecies L. s. niloticus fairly common migrant and breeding summer visitor, and L. s. senator a scarce migrant, chiefly in spring. |
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