Northern Shrike
Lanius borealis
Shrikes (Laniidae) · Passeriformes (Passeriformes)
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Often mixed up with
In quizzes, players most often confuse Northern Shrike with these birds— either this species was picked by mistake, or the other way around.
| Species | Mix-ups |
|---|---|
| Loggerhead Shrike Lanius ludovicianus | 5 |
| Brown Shrike Lanius cristatus | 2 |
| Ash-throated Flycatcher Myiarchus cinerascens | 1 |
| Chinese Grey Shrike Lanius sphenocercus | 1 |
| Canada Jay Perisoreus canadensis | 1 |
Family
Shrikes () are passerine birds of the family Laniidae. The family is composed of 34 species in two genera. The family name, and that of the larger genus, Lanius, is derived from the Latin word for "butcher", and some shrikes are also known as butcherbirds because of the habit, particularly of males, of impaling prey onto plant spines within their territories.
Order
A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin passer 'sparrow' and formis '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their toes (three pointing forward and one back), which facilitates perching. With more than 140 families and some 6,500 identified species, Passeriformes is the largest order of birds and one of the most diverse clades of terrestrial vertebrates, representing 60% of …