---
title: "Northern Shrike"
description: "Lanius borealis — Birds. The northern shrike (Lanius borealis) is a large songbird species in the shrike family (Laniidae) native to North America and Siberia."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/northern-shrike
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Northern Shrike

> Lanius borealis — Birds. The northern shrike (Lanius borealis) is a large songbird species in the shrike family (Laniidae) native to North America and Siberia.

- Scientific name: *Lanius borealis*
- Category: `birds` (Birds)
- Habitats: unknown
- iNaturalist observations: 9654
- Wikidata: [Q31874734](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q31874734)
- iNaturalist taxon: [558512](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/558512)

## Names

- en: Northern Shrike
- de: Taigaraubwürger
- es: Alcaudón boreal
- fr: Pie-grièche boréale

## Countries with the most observations

US (4314), CA (4268), RU (572), CN (17), KZ (5), MN (4), BM (3)

## Summary

The northern shrike (Lanius borealis) is a large songbird species in the shrike family (Laniidae) native to North America and Siberia. Long considered a subspecies of the great grey shrike, it was classified as a distinct species in 2017. Six subspecies are recognised.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_shrike

## Photo

![Northern Shrike](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/northern-shrike/medium.jpg)

Photo: Reuven Martin · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/354755329

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/northern-shrike?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).