10 - Africa: The Red Backed Shrike

Every year most migratory birds leave their breeding areas situated in Central and Northern Europe. They travel south crossing the Iberian Peninsula and the Straits of Gibraltar and then continue through the Sahara desert to reach their final destination in sub-Saharan Africa.

However, there are mysterious exceptions. The red-backed shrike, a beautiful bird, the size of a sparrow, flies east over Italy and Turkey, instead of heading straight south like the rest of migratory birds. It crosses the Bosphorous and heads for Egypt. Its next stopover will take it to Sudan, Zimbabwe and even South Africa. But the extraordinary journey of the red backed shrike does not end there. It´s believed to return along a route further to the east making a big detour through the Arabian peninsula. The red backed shrike travels a total of some 20,000 kilometres on its long voyage, an astonishing deed for such a small bird.

For that reason, this is the last migratory bird to return to Urdaibai. It cannot be seen until the first half of May.

It stays here throughout the whole summer, occupying countryside habitats such as meadows, hedges, crops and Basque farms. It can often be seen perched on wires, poles and brambles. It uses these vantage points to watch its prey, which consists of insects, lizards and even mice. This bird stores its prey by impaling it on thorny bushes and barbed wire.

Its population seems to have decreased alarmingly over the last few years. The Bird Center is conducting a study in collaboration with a Bulgarian Association in an effort to determine the causes of this decline.