Great Grey Shrike

Great Grey Shrike (Lanius excubitor) is a large predatory songbird with pearly-grey upperparts, white underparts, a black mask and black wings marked with white. Body shape, bill structure, plumage pattern and voice provide the strongest field characters. Age, sex and season may alter its appearance, so identification should combine several features and careful direct field comparisons with similar species in the same habitat (Wikipedia, general species account).

It breeds across northern Eurasia and hunts insects, birds and small mammals in open country from high perches, with many populations moving south into temperate regions during winter. Its movements and social behaviour vary through the year, with breeding birds generally more dispersed and non-breeding birds gathering where food is concentrated. Japanese records place it within the country's documented avifauna as a resident, migrant or visitor (Wikipedia, general species account; Wildlife of Japan occurrence records).