Description
woodchat shrike lanius senator averla capirossa
Date 8 January 2013, 14:32:32
Source Flickr: 17 5 2012 averla capirossa strillozzo 091
Author Michele Lamberti https://www.flickr.com/people/60740813@N04
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:17_5_2012_averla_capirossa_strillozzo_091.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.