Loggerhead Shrike
(Laniusludovicianus)
Photographed in the wild,
Naples, Florida Apr 2008
Marco Island, Florida Mar 2012
A small gray, black, and white bird of open areas, the
Loggerhead Shrike hardly appears to be a predator. The Loggerhead Shrike is a
predator, but it does not have the strong feet and talons of a raptor.
often referred to as a "Butcher Bird", it will
stun or kill prey with its powerful, hooked beak that helps sever the spinal
cord of its prey before impaling it on a plant thorn or barbed-wire fence. The
impaled victim will then be picked apart over time, sometimes left there for
months before being finished.
The prey typically consists of a small bird, mouse, or large
insect. The birds sharply hooked beak makes-up for a lack of talons that birds
of prey have to attack other birds. Loggerheads have exceptional eyesight and
can spot a grasshopper from 70 yards away.
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