ECOLOGY AND BEHAVIOUR OF THE NOTHERN SHRIKE (Lanius excubitor L.) IN WINTER PERIOD.
I. Horban
Ivan Franko National University of L'viv,
Hrushevskoho St.4, L'viv 79005, Ukraine,
e-mail: biolog@franko.lviv.ua
Northern Shrike is spread in random areas of the Western Ukraine. The number of representatives of the species is low and it even became rare in some regions during the last century. Its natural habitat didn't change. It is more common in the high mountainous regions of the Carpathians than in the planes.
Northern Shrike was included in the 2nd edition of the Ukrainian Red Data Book in 1994. It breeds in the forest landscapes. Its winter natural habitat is larger and more diverse. It reaches the boarders of the whole country, with the largest quantity of birds in the forest-steppe zone. The size of the natural habitat territory is affected by the type of landscape as well as by the adopted behaviour of finding food. Northern Shrikes always use air streams in the forest-steppe zone. Thanks to those streams, birds can hang in the air. Birds use the above method for hunting when there is no snow cover on the ground, or its thickness is no more than 2-3 centimetres.
Key words: Shrike, winter natural habitat, Western Ukraine, behaviour of finding food.
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