SHRIKE • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Shrike

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noun

Shrike n. (Zool.) Any one of numerous species of oscinine birds of the family Laniidae, having a strong hooked bill, toothed at the tip. Most shrikes are insectivorous, but the common European gray shrike (Lanius excubitor), the great northern shrike (Lanius borealis), and several others, kill mice, small birds, etc., and often impale them on thorns, and are, on that account called also butcher birds. See under Butcher. Note: The ant shrikes, or bush shrikes, are clamatorial birds of the family Formicaridae. The cuckoo shrikes of the East Indies and Australia are Oscines of the family Campephagidae. The drongo shrikes of the same regions belong to the related family Dicruridae. See Drongo.

Crow shrike. See under Crow.

Shrike thrush.

(a)

Any one of several species of Asiatic timaline birds of the genera Thamnocataphus, Gampsorhynchus, and allies.

(b)

Any one of several species of shrikelike Australian singing birds of the genus Colluricincla.

Shrike tit.

(a)

Any one of several Australian birds of the genus Falcunculus, having a strong toothed bill and sharp claws. They creep over the bark of trees, like titmice, in search of insects.

(b)

Any one of several species of small Asiatic birds belonging to Allotrius, Pteruthius, Cutia, Leioptila, and allied genera, related to the true tits. Called also hill tit.

Swallow shrike. See under Swallow.

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Etymology of 'Shrike'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Shrike" Quotes from Famous Books

... was characteristic; for, wherever I went, I found it true that the mocker grew less musical as the place grew wilder. By instinct he is a public performer, he demands an audience; and it is only in cities, like St. Augustine and Tallahassee, that he is heard at his freest and best. A loggerhead shrike—now close at my elbow, now farther away—was practicing his extensive vocabulary with perseverance, if not with enthusiasm. Like his relative the "great northern," though perhaps in a less degree, the loggerhead is commonly at an extreme, either ...

— A Florida Sketch-Book • Bradford Torrey

... been seen at Otterbourne. A slug has been found impaled on a thorn, but whether this was the shrike's larder, or as a charm ...

— John Keble's Parishes • Charlotte M Yonge

... the tree. He had nearly reached it, when he turned tail and rushed for his hole with the greatest precipitation. As he neared it, I saw some bluish object in the air closing in upon him with the speed of an arrow, and, as he vanished within, a shrike brought up in front of the spot, and with spread wings and tail stood hovering a moment, and, looking in, then turned and went away. Apparently it was a narrow escape for the chipmunk, and, I venture to say, he stole no more corn that morning. The shrike is said to catch ...

— Squirrels and Other Fur-Bearers • John Burroughs

Words linked to "Shrike" : migrant shrike, oscine bird, European shrike, northern shrike, butcherbird, family Laniidae, black-fronted bush shrike, oscine, bush shrike, white-rumped shrike, loggerhead shrike, Lanius lucovicianus, Lanius ludovicianus migrans, swallow shrike, ant shrike