A small gray, black, and white bird of open areas, the Loggerhead Shrike hardly appears to be a predator. It was once abundant, but has declined drastically through last half of 20th century. It is essentially gone from its northeastern part of range. It continues to decline throughout its range. The subspecies on San Clemente Island in California is listed as endangered on the federal list.It is a medium-sized songbird with a gray back, white throat, and whitish chest. It has a large head with a black mask and stout black bill with a hook at the end. The wings are black with a white patch. The tail is black with white outer feathers.The Loggerhead Shrike is a predator, but it does not have the strong feet and talons of a raptor. It uses its strongly hooked beak to kill insects, lizards, mice, and birds. It uses the bill for gripping flesh, and a strong notch or "tooth" near the bill tip that helps sever the spinal cord of its prey. It uses thorns and barbed wire to hold large prey while it rips it up, and may wedge prey into a fork in a branch for the same purpose. The Northern Shrike is larger, with a larger bill with a pale base to the lower mandible, a narrower black mask that does not extend across the forehead, and usually faint wavy barring on the chest. The Immature Northern is brownish.(Cornell Lab of Ornithology. All About Birds (Online)). |
