Editing Loggerhead shrike (section)

==Taxonomy==
In 1760 the French zoologist [[Mathurin Jacques Brisson]] included a description of the loggerhead shrike in his ''Ornithologie'' based on a specimen collected in [[Louisiana]] in the United States. He used the French name ''La pie-griesche de la Louisiane'' and the Latin ''Lanius ludovicianus''.<ref name=brisson>{{ cite book | last=Brisson | first=Mathurin Jacques | author-link=Mathurin Jacques Brisson | year=1760 | title=Ornithologie, ou, Méthode contenant la division des oiseaux en ordres, sections, genres, especes & leurs variétés | volume=2 | language=fr, la | place=Paris | publisher=Jean-Baptiste Bauche | pages=162–164, Plate 15 fig 2 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36011386 }} The two stars (**) at the start of the section indicates that Brisson based his description on the examination of a specimen.</ref> Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not usually conform to the [[binomial nomenclature|binomial system]] and are not recognised by the [[International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature]].<ref name=allen>{{cite journal |last=Allen | first=J.A. | author-link=Joel Asaph Allen | year=1910 | title=Collation of Brisson's genera of birds with those of Linnaeus |journal=Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History |volume=28 | pages=317–335 | hdl=2246/678 }}</ref> When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist [[Carl Linnaeus]] updated his ''[[Systema Naturae]]'' for the [[12th edition of Systema Naturae|twelfth edition]], he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson.<ref name=allen/> One of these was the loggerhead shrike. Linnaeus included a brief description, adopted the [[binomial name]] ''Lanius ludovicianus'' (identical to Brisson's Latin name) and cited Brisson's work.<ref>{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | year=1766 | title=Systema naturae : per regna tria natura, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | edition=12th | volume=1, Part 1 | publisher=Laurentii Salvii  | place=Holmiae (Stockholm) | language=la | page=134 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/42946330 }}</ref> The [[Specific name (zoology)|specific name]] ''ludovic'' is [[Late Latin]] for "Louis" and the epithet "-ianus" is to describe something being of another or possessed by it. When translated, its scientific name means something alongside the lines of "Louis’ butcher".<ref name=hbwkey>{{cite web | last=Jobling | first=J.A. | year=2018 | title= Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology | editor1-last=del Hoyo | editor1-first=J. | editor2-last=Elliott | editor2-first=A. | editor3-last=Sargatal | editor3-first=J. | editor4-last=Christie | editor4-first=D.A. | editor5-last=de Juana | editor5-first=E. | work=Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive | publisher=Lynx Edicions | url=https://www.hbw.com/dictionary/definition/ludoviciana-ludovicianus | access-date=21 June 2018 }}</ref>  "Loggerhead," a similar word to "blockhead," refers to the unusually large head to body ratio of this bird.<ref>{{cite web| url= https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Loggerhead_Shrike/overview| title= Loggerhead Shrike| website= allaboutbirds.org| publisher= Cornell University| date= 2019| access-date= August 19, 2021}}</ref>

There are seven recognized [[subspecies]]:<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | year=2018 | title=Shrikes, vireos, shrike-babblers | work=World Bird List Version 8.1 | url= http://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/shrikes/ | publisher= [[International Ornithologists' Union]] | access-date=21 June 2018 }}</ref>

* ''L. l. excubitorides'' [[William Swainson|Swainson]], 1832 – central Canada, central and west USA
* ''L. l. migrans'' Palmer, W, 1898 – east North America
* ''L. l. ludovicianus'' Linnaeus, 1766 – coastal southeast USA
* ''L. l. anthonyi'' [[Edgar Alexander Mearns|Mearns]], 1898 – [[Channel Islands (California)|Channel Islands]] (off south California, southwest USA)
* ''L. l. mearnsi'' [[Robert Ridgway|Ridgway]], 1903 – [[San Clemente Island]] (off south California, southwest USA)
* ''L. l. grinnelli'' [[Harry C. Oberholser|Oberholser]], 1919 – extreme south California and north Baja California (northwest Mexico)
* ''L. l. mexicanus'' [[Alfred Brehm|Brehm, CL]], 1854 – west and central Mexico, south Baja California (northwest Mexico)

Miller, in 1931, suggested that the wing-chord-to-tail-length ratio was an important indicator for distinguishing between subspecies.<ref name="miller1931"/> 
''Lanius ludovicianus migrans'', found in eastern North America, can be distinguished from the western subspecies, ''L. l. excubitorides'' by wing length, tail length, and colour. ''L. l. migrans'' have a paler forehead than the top of the head.<ref name="chabot1994"/>
According to Mundy et al.’s 1997 study, there is a substantial genetic difference between the island subspecies ''L. l. mearnsi'' and the mainland subspecies ''L. l. gambeli'' due to a gene flow barrier between the two species.<ref name="mundy1997">{{cite journal | last1 = Mundy | first1 = N. |last2= Winchell |first2= C.| last3= Burr |first3= T.| last4= Woodruff |first4= D. | year = 1997 | title = Microsatellite variation and microevolution in the critically endangered San Clemente Island loggerhead shrike (Lanius ludovicianus mearnsi) | journal = [[Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B]] |publisher= [[Royal Society of London]] | volume = 264 | issue = 1383| pages = 869–875 | doi=10.1098/rspb.1997.0121| pmc = 1688432| bibcode = 1997RSPSB.264..869M }}</ref>