Red-backed Shrike

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Red-backed Shrike in the UK

Once a widespread summer visitor across southern Britain, it declined through the 20th century and was down to a single pair in the Brecks by 1988. No nests were found in 1989. It is now a scarce but regular passage migrant, with most seen from May to June and August to October. A handful of pairs have bred since, including on Dartmoor between 2010 and 2013 and in Shetland in 2015 and 2020. The latest BTO estimate is three pairs. It is Red-listed and a Schedule 1 species, so any summer pair must be left alone and reported to the county recorder.

Where and when to see a Red-backed Shrike

Spring birds arrive from mid May to mid June, often males, and autumn birds from mid August to October, mostly juveniles. The east coast from Kent to Northumberland, Shetland, Orkney and Fair Isle take the bulk. Easterly or south-easterly winds with drizzle are the classic conditions. Check coastal scrub, bramble patches, fence lines and hawthorn hedges behind dunes. Shrikes sit in the open on top of a bush or wire and return to the same perch after each sally. Autumn juveniles often stay several days.

Habitat, diet and field notes

Habitat: Scrubby heathland (ex-breeder).
Diet: Insects, small vertebrates.
Field note: "Butcher bird"; scarce migrant.

How to identify a Red-backed Shrike

A little bigger than a House Sparrow, with a long tail and a thick hooked bill. The male has a blue-grey head, a black mask through the eye, a chestnut back, pink-flushed white underparts and a black tail with white sides at the base. Females and juveniles are warm brown above and off-white below with fine dark crescents on the breast and flanks. Juveniles are also barred on the back. It perches upright in the open, swings and fans its tail, and drops to the ground or dashes out after prey.

Call and song

Migrants are mostly quiet. The usual call is a harsh, hard 'chack' or 'shak', sometimes run into a short chatter when alarmed. The song is a quiet, scratchy warble with mimicry of other birds, rarely heard in Britain. Heard something you cannot place? Bird Hear identifies UK birds from a 10 second recording, free in your browser.

Confusion species

• Woodchat Shrike: Adult Woodchat has a rusty cap and white shoulder patches, and juveniles are greyer and paler than a juvenile Red-backed with pale shoulders and rump.
• Brown Shrike: Brown Shrike is a much rarer autumn vagrant with a bigger head, a longer, narrower, more rounded tail and plainer, less barred upperparts.
• Great Grey Shrike: Great Grey is Blackbird-sized and grey, black and white with no brown or chestnut in the plumage.

Month by month

A passage migrant. Look for it on spring and autumn movements rather than through the summer. Numbers peak in April. See the April birding guide for what else is about. More on the season in Bird migration in Britain.

Taller bars mean more birds about. Grey means it is usually absent.

Conservation status and Birdedex points

In the Birdedex the Red-backed Shrike is a Rare tier bird, worth +8 points when you log one. It is Red-listed in Birds of Conservation Concern 5, the highest level of concern in the UK. It is protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, so it is an offence to disturb it at or near the nest. We blur the location of every sighting of this species.

Recent UK sightings

Similar birds

• Great Grey ShrikeRare · Open heath
• Woodchat ShrikeRare · Open scrub (vagrant)
• Brown ShrikeEpic · Coastal scrub (very rare)
• Daurian ShrikeEpic · Coastal scrub (rare vagrant)
• Lesser Grey ShrikeEpic · Open country (very rare)
• Long-tailed ShrikeLegendary · Open ground (extreme vagrant)

Red-backed Shrike: quick answers

Is the Red-backed Shrike rare in the UK?

As a breeding bird, yes: it is close to extinct here. As a migrant it is scarce but expected, and coastal watchers on the east coast and in the Northern Isles see them in most years.

Why is the Red-backed Shrike called the butcher bird?

It impales spare prey on thorns or barbed wire to eat later. These stores are called larders. Beetles, bumblebees, lizards, voles and small birds have all been found on them.

Does the Red-backed Shrike still breed in the UK?

Only now and then. After regular breeding ended in the late 1980s, pairs nested on Dartmoor from 2010 to 2013 and raised young under round-the-clock guard. Since then confirmed breeding has been in Shetland. Loss of large insects on farmland and heath is blamed for the decline.

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