It is closely related to the great grey shrike, Lanius excubitor, and its plumage is generally similar to the great grey shrike apart from the differences noted below.

The Iberian was previously considered conspecific with the great grey; where they co-occur, they do not interbreed and are separated by choice of habitat.

[2] 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.

It is slightly smaller and darker than the great grey shrike, and prefers dry open country.

Like other shrikes it hunts from prominent perches, and impales corpses on thorns or barbed wire as a "larder".