Nick Watmough provides us with an insight into the status, origins and taxonomy of Steppe Grey Shrike.

On Saturday 1st November 2025, I caught up with the long-staying Steppe Grey Shrike (SGS) that has been frequenting an area of cliff-top scrub near Gunwalloe on the Lizard. When I was there several observers and members of the public asked about its rarity and where it comes from. This distinctive taxon was originally known as Bogdanov’s Shrike, after a 19th century Russian zoologist who wrote his doctoral thesis on Russian shrikes. First recorded at Fair Isle Bird Observatory, Shetland in 1956, there are about 30 UK records including one at Cape Cornwall in April 1992
Steppe Grey Shrike, Gunwallow, 1/11/2025

Breeding in the deserts of Central Asia and wintering in a band from South Asia across the Middle East to NE Africa, SGS has long fascinated UK birders as it is an attractive and readily identifiable vagrant. Although for listers it has proved a source of frustration. At different times over the past 65 years, it has been regarded by taxonomists either as a full species sometimes known as Saxual Grey Shrike (Lanius pallidirostris) and thus “countable” or a subspecies of Great Grey Shrike (Lanius excubitor pallidirostris). It is currently regarded as the latter by the IOC pending a review of Grey Shrike taxonomy – but don’t hold your breath…

Distribution map showing breeding range of SGS circled in red

Curiously the first-year SGS that turn up in Western Europe in late autumn have a reputation for being very confiding – the 2008 bird in Lincolnshire even landed on the telescopes of its admirers. Yet, in the Taukum Desert (Kazakhstan) last year I found SGS not only to be thinly distributed, but also incredibly wary surveying the unforgiving landscape from the tallest Saxual bushes. Perhaps for a lost shrike the bare hedgerows of Gunwalloe offer a reasonable alternative?

Steppe Grey Shrike, Taukum Desert, Kazakhstan. 22/06/2024

During the two days I spent camping in the Taukum we encountered several other highly migratory species that have occurred in Cornwall as very rare vagrants including Turkestan (Red-tailed) Shrike, Isabelline Wheatear, Desert Wheatear and Rufous Bush Robin along with another species that is long overdue – Asian Desert Warbler.

Our campsite in the Taukum desert showing the typical habitat of SGS.

Taukum Desert, Kazakhstan at sunset – shrikes perch on top of the very tallest Saxual bushes

Asian Desert Warbler shares the desert with SGS and possibly a future visitor to the county?