woodchat shrike (Lanius senator) Date 19 March 2013, 10:49
Source Alcaudón común (Lanius senator)
Author Juan Emilio from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, España http://www.flickr.com/people/22009023@N03
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alcaud%C3%B3n_com%C3%BAn_(Lanius_senator)_(8587246504)_(2).jpg
The woodchat shrike (Lanius senator) is a member of the shrike family Laniidae. The genus name, Lanius, is derived from the Latin word for "butcher", and some shrikes are also known as "butcher birds" because of their feeding habits. The specific senator is Latin for "senator", so-named because its chestnut cap recalled the colour of the stripe on the toga of a Roman senator. The common name "Woodchat" is an Anglicisation of German waldkatze, literally "woodcat", and "shrike" is from Old English scríc, "shriek", referring to the shrill call.
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Laniidae
Genus: Lanius
Species: Lanius senator Linnaeus, 1758