shrike

noun

• a songbird with a strong sharply hooked bill, often impaling its prey of small birds, lizards, and insects on thorns. Also called butcher-bird.

  • Family Laniidae: several genera and numerous species, especially in Africa, e.g. the great grey shrike (Lanius excubitor), of both Eurasia and North America
• used in names of birds of other families that are similar to the shrike, e.g. cuckoo-shrike, pepper-shrike.