Saving the best for last: Differential usage of impaled prey by red-backed shrike (Lanius collurio) during the breeding season

摘要

We compared the prey composition of the red-backed shrike's (Lanius collurio) larders in agricultural habitats in Italy, France and Poland. This species exhibits the behaviour of impaling prey in larders, a behaviour attributed not only to storing food, but also as a social indication for sexual selection and/or demarcation of territories.