IN DEFENSE OF THE SHRIKE

Loggerhead Shrike - photo courtesy Sharon Milligan

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To read about this Saturday's field trip (17th September, 2016) see details at end of article.

The shrike goes through life with a double handicap - one that nature inflicted in the dawn of the Cenozoic era and one that man, despite his intelligence, inflicted upon it in early times by dubbing it the "butcher bird", thereby insuring its unending persecution!

This meat-eating predator has strength in its body, and in its powerful hook-like beak, of a hawk .. and it has, conversely, the small body size and delicate weak feet of a songbird. One has only to watch a shrike in action to realize how well it has compensated for nature's deficiency.

Insects, mice, reptiles, and birds of equal weight constitute the major prey of the shrike. Kills are swift and efficient. But the shrike's feet are insufficient to the task of gripping and holding the prey while it eats, a problem for which the shrike has an innovative, albeit probably instinctive, solution!

The shrike impales its victims on thorns, or sharp branch stubs, the tines of barbed wire, or hangs them by the neck in the crotches of twigs, as a butcher hangs meat. One can readily understand the reason for the shrike's common name, but it carries with it a connotation of barbarism which has put a strain on the shrike's relationship with man, or rather on man's ability to relate to the shrike.

While it many be perfectly proper for the butcher to hang his carcasses all in a row from meat hooks, we do not in our combined ignorance and intolerance, grant the shrike its right to cope with life in the wild on its own innovative terms.We still shudder over the shrike's supposed capacity for violence!

Shrikes are accused of taking and impaling more prey than they need and it is true that a shrike's larder may often contain as many as six victims in various stages of dessication. Perhaps the shrike is as prone to excesses as are we humans. Or, more likely, the shrike takes advantage of good hunting days against some future times of austerity.

Nature is violent, and often perverse, and it is not always easy to understand that the violence and perversity are as much a part of nature's grand design as are the song of the veery and the flight of the Woodcock.

Our southern shrike is known as the Loggerhead Shrike, (again, an unfortunate assignation meaning "blockhead"), and it may be found atop a bare tree, or perched motionless but alert along power lines. From vantage points such as these it surveys the world below, watching and waiting for the field mouse.. the grasshopper... the chickadee!

The shrike must get above its flying victims, wings drawn slightly to the side, until it maneuvers into a good striking position. If its intended victim can rise in altitude and make a quick dive for cover, the pursuit is over. If not, the shrike, with quick blows to the skull, dispatches its prey and carries it back to the larder.

That thumbnail description of predator against prey may assault our sensitivities, but would it have the same effect if the prey had been a mouse, or a lizard? Probably not!

There is little doubt that the shrike's taking of songbirds has colored man's ability to understand and approve the shrike's position in nature's scheme.

At this time of year and throughout the coming winter, shrikes may be found monitoring the activity in an open field, or as lone sentinels atop a barren tree.  The beautiful but deadly hunter fills a vital niche in the wildlife community.

This article was published in September 1977

Mississippi Coast Audubon Society Field Trip  September 17, 2016:  Ansley Preserve, Hancock County

Leader:  Ned Boyajian nedrbo@gmail.com

Ansley Preserve is famous for spring migrants, but should be interesting in fall as well with several warblers, grosbeaks and tanagers possible in addition to resident birds. This site is part of the Mississippi Coastal Birding Trail; more information athttp://mscoastbirdingtrail.audubon.org/ansley-preserve.html.

Place and Time:  Meet at the intersection of Hwy 90 and 603 in the large parking lot on the northeast corner.  Park near the east end of the parking lot near McDonalds (MAP).  Meeting time will be between 7:15 and 7:30 AM. 

Conditions:  short walks and roadside birding. Deerflies may be numerous.  All are welcome on our field trips!