Latin: Lanius excubitor (Linné 1758)
Svenska: Varfågel
Deutsch: Nördlicher Raubwürger
Trophy hunter
In the winter, you might see a grey, bandit masked bird sitting in a bush. It’s the Great grey shrike, a carnivorous bird. It sometimes impales its prey on a sharp point to eat it later!
Nowadays, the Great grey shrike is only a winter visitor in Uppland. The last recorded nesting in Uppsala was in 1981. Today, its closest nesting place is in northwestern Västmanland county.
These birds begin to show up in Uppland around September, and stay until the end of March.
Photo: Jörgen Lindberg ©
Latest sightings of Great grey shrikes in Uppland
NatureGate on the Great grey shrike
Wikipedia article on the Great grey shrike