Perching

Loggerhead Shrike

Lanius ludovicianus
Loggerhead Shrike thumbnail
Length: 9 in. (23 cm )
Obvious as it perches high in the top of a tree, bush, or telephone wire in open country, the Loggerhead Shrike is constantly looking for prey, such as large insects, mice, lizards and occasionally small birds. When prey is sighted running on the ground, the shrike swoops down and dispatches it with its hooked bill. In times of prey abundance, the shrike will impale extra food items on spines of bushes or on sharp points of barbed wire, sometime accumulating many dead carcasses all hanging as in a butcher shop. This behavior is the origin of the other common name of the shrike, the butcher bird. Its bulky nest is woven of twigs and hair and hidden in a dense patch of shrubbery or small tree.

The four-digit banding code is LOSH.

Male | Herbert Clarke

Female | Richard Ditch


Agricultural

Desert

Grasslands

Savanna

Shrubs
Bird Sound Type: Buzzing
Sex of Bird: Male
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Bird Sound Type: Buzzing
Sex of Bird: Male
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View Citation

You may need to edit author's name to meet the style formats, which are in most cases "Last name, First name."

Bibliographic details:

  • Article: Loggerhead Shrike
  • Author(s): Dr. Biology
  • Publisher: Arizona State University School of Life Sciences Ask A Biologist
  • Site name: ASU - Ask A Biologist
  • Date published: July 13, 2017
  • Date accessed: March 7, 2024
  • Link: https://askabiologist.asu.edu/activities/bird/loggerhead-shrike

APA Style

Dr. Biology. (2017, July 13). Loggerhead Shrike. ASU - Ask A Biologist. Retrieved March 7, 2024 from https://askabiologist.asu.edu/activities/bird/loggerhead-shrike

American Psychological Association. For more info, see http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/10/

Chicago Manual of Style

Dr. Biology. "Loggerhead Shrike". ASU - Ask A Biologist. 13 July, 2017. https://askabiologist.asu.edu/activities/bird/loggerhead-shrike

MLA 2017 Style

Dr. Biology. "Loggerhead Shrike". ASU - Ask A Biologist. 13 Jul 2017. ASU - Ask A Biologist, Web. 7 Mar 2024. https://askabiologist.asu.edu/activities/bird/loggerhead-shrike

Modern Language Association, 7th Ed. For more info, see http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/08/
A horned lizard on a background of rocks
If birds evolved from dinosaurs, would that make them reptiles too?

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