Like a songbird, the
northern shrike catches small mammals, insects, and an occasional reptile by grabbing them with its beak.
The species which were most affected within our study for this region include the American Kestrel, Black-Crowned Night-Heron, Double-Crested Cormorant, Eastern Phoebe, Hermit Thrush, Ruby-Crowned Kinglet, Savannah Sparrow, Warbling Vireo, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, the Horned Lark, and the
Northern Shrike (Tables 3 and 4).
Wing movements, hunting and displays of the
Northern Shrike. Wilson Bulletin, 74: 386-408.
Fortunately, there were inspiring highlights, like bald eagles, rusty blackbird and lots of red-bellied woodpeckers, a southern species that has taken a tenacious hold here, thanks to global warming -- and a snowy owl and
northern shrike in Concord.
First, we were able to exclude a few species from the pool of those contributing to beak marks in our sample of snakes: American kestrel,
northern shrike, and red-tailed hawk.
With the guide's release, out-of-towners will learn what local birders already know: that the Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area is the closest place you can get by land to a colony of 65,000 common murres; that Sally's Bend in Newport is a great place to see
northern shrike, American pipit and all six species of grebes; and that Sweet Creek Falls near Mapleton offers glimpses through old growth trees of the American dipper, a grey-colored songbird that walks under swift-running streams, eating cranefly larvae.
Atkinson discovered that, in winter, the
northern shrike sometimes sings for its supper instead.
northern shrike - a butcherbird of northern North America