But most authors cited by Linnaeus – Eleazar Albin, Ulisse Aldrovandi, John Ray and Francis Willughby – called it lanius cinereus major or similar, which is a near-literal equivalent of the common name "great grey shrike".

[5] This refers to the birds' two most conspicuous behaviours – storing food animals by impaling them on thorns, and using exposed tree-tops or poles to watch the surrounding area for possible prey.

These names are unlikely to significantly pre-date the times of Saint Boniface (c. 700 AD) because of their Christian connotation; the related Werkenvogel ("choking bird") might, however, do so.

The English version, having become wariangle or weirangle, was eventually transferred to the native red-backed shrike (L. collurio) and lingered on into modern times in Yorkshire.

This is related to such words as Norwegian and Swedish skrika ("shriek, skrike"), German Schrei ("scream") or Icelandic shrikja ("shrieker").

But it seems to have become the dominant term only in rather recent times, for as late as the 18th century, the species was still widely known as "greater butcher-bird" in English, just like it was known as the boucher ("butcher") in the French Jura.

[9] A whimsical name – presumably from Scotland or nearby England – was "white wisky John" in reference to its wavy and somewhat unelegant flight, during which its large areas of light plumage are conspicuous.

This must have happened fairly recently, because lineage sorting is not complete in the grey shrikes, and most of the present-day habitat of L. excubitor was uninhabitable during much of the Quaternary glaciation.

Because of the phylogenetic uncertainties surrounding this close-knit group in the absence of a good fossil record, some refrain from splitting them up into distinct species; most modern authors do so however.

[1][13] There are a number of subspecies:[14] An adult great grey shrike is a medium-sized passerine about as large as a big thrush, measuring from 22 to 26 cm (8.7 to 10.2 in) long.

In particular the breast is usually darker and sometimes browner than the rest of the light underside, and may appear as an indistinct band between the lighter belly and white throat.

In the North American subspecies borealis, the fledglings are tinged quite brown indeed on upperside and wings, and have sharp and dark underside bars.

It prefers different habitat – lightly wooded grassland in the great, more arid shrubland in the southern grey shrike – and where the species' ranges overlap, they do not hybridize at present (though they may have done so in past millennia).

It is only found as a vagrant in Iceland, the British Isles, the Mediterranean region (excluding the Iberian Peninsula and perhaps Romania but including Cyprus), and Korea.

There do not appear to be breeding records from the entire Kamchatka Peninsula; in Switzerland, the present day Netherlands and southern Germany small populations were found in the mid-20th century but have declined or even disappeared since then.

In recent decades, the number of birds remaining on the breeding grounds all year has been noted to increase e.g. in Fennoscandia, whereas for example borealis seems to be as rare a winter visitor in northern Ohio as it was a century ago.

It signals its readiness to strike at an intruder by shifting to a horizontal pose and fluffing its feathers, raising them into a small crest along the top of the head.

Birds appease conspecifics by head-turns away from them (if close by), or by imitating the crouching fluttering pose and calls given by fledglings begging for food (if sitting father apart).

Reducing feather wear and parasite load, moulting can make a bird more physically attractive and healthy, and may thus increase its chance of successful reproduction.

To hunt, this bird perches on the topmost branch of a tree, utility pole or similar elevated spot in a characteristic upright stance some metres/yards (at least one and up to 18 m/20 yd) above ground.

If no prey ventures out in the open, great grey shrikes will rummage through the undergrowth or sit near hiding places and flash their white wing and tail markings to scare small animals into coming out.

Birds are generally of little importance however, except in spring when male songbirds are engaged in courtship display and often rather oblivious of their surroundings, in late summer when inexperienced fledglings abound, and in winter when most small mammals hibernate.

Males give increasingly vocal displays and show off the white markings of the wings in flight and of the tail by fanning it and turning away from the female.

The gatherings of neighbour groups (see above) cease when nesting is underway, and when the eggs are nearly ready to lay, the male guards his partner closely, perching higher than her to watch for threats and frequently feeding her.

This apparently ensures her physical well-being rather than preventing extra-pair copulations, as neighbouring males will stray through each other's territory to snatch a quick fling with the resident females.

Presence of mistletoes or vines like common ivy (Hedera helix) on side branches near the trunk (where nests are preferentially built) will make a tree markedly more attractive.

Its body is constructed of coarse vegetable material – mainly large twigs and chunks of moss, though bits of fabric and rubbish may be added.

The eggs have a white background colour, usually with a grey hue and sometimes with a blue one; they are patterned with blotches of yellowish- to reddish-brown and purplish-grey, often denser around the blunt end.

[37][39] Common cuckoos (Cuculus canorus) have been noted as regular brood parasites of L. e. excubitor in the past; for reasons unknown this has ceased since the late 1970s or so.

By contrast, in Luxembourg plentiful high-quality habitat is found; though the number of great grey shrikes in this tiny country is necessarily limited, the average population density there is 25 times as high as in Lithuania.