GAMOVA T.V., SURMACH S.G., SVATKO T.A.
Amurian zoological journal 2025; 17(4): 654-669
Using the data collected from 2010 to 2018, we studied the nesting behavior and diet of three shrike species: Brown shrike ( Lanius cristatus ), Tiger shrike ( Lanius tigrinus ), and Chinese grey shrike ( Lanius sphenocercus ). The focus on shrike feeding ecology is motivated by their distinctive trophic behaviour, their accessibility for research, and the poor knowledge of their diet’s quantitative and qualitative composition, particularly for the Tiger shrike. This work describes the spectrum and quantitative ratio of food consumed by shrikes in summer, considering local-geographical and age-related differences. In all three species, males participated to varying degrees in feeding females and nestlings but did not incubate eggs or brood nestlings. The highest feeding intensity was recorded in the Brown shrike during the period of feeding nestlings of all ages (up to 19 deliveries per hour), nearly double that of the other two species (9-13 deliveries per hour). During egg-laying and incubation, the primary food items for female Brown shrikes (12 items total) were spiders (36-42 %), caterpillars (30-32 %), and orthopterans (13-26 %). The nestling diet was more diverse (20 items), but was also dominated by caterpillars (41 %) and spiders (30 %). Vertebrates (lizards, their eggs, and frogs) constituted no more than 3 % on average. In the Tiger shrike, 11 food types were identified for both adults and nestlings, with caterpillars (35 %), orthopterans (28 %), and spiders (24 %) predominating; vertebrates were absent from the nestling diet. In the Chinese grey shrike, 9 food types were found; beetles (22 %) and spiders (15 %) had the highest frequency of occurrence, and nestlings were fed primarily with mouse meat (46 %) shortly before fledging.
