A carnivorous, mainly black, grey, or brown and white bird (family Laniidae) with a hooked bill, strong legs, and a long tail. Shrikes inhabit open areas and woodland edges, feeding on insects and small vertebrates, often impaling their prey on thorns, which gives some species the name ‘butcher bird’. There are four genera of 31 species, some migratory, occurring in Africa and Eurasia, with two species in North America.