[Mnbird] A shrike

[Allen Batt]

  A friend in Freeborn County sent me a photo of a shrike that had met its demise by colliding with a window this week. A shrike in the summer is a loggerhead, and one in the winter is a northern. This time of the year, who knows? They’re often called “butcher birds” and are both a songbird and a predator of songbirds. The shrike’s facial band tells the tale as far as ID goes. I couldn’t see where the mask met the bill in the photo. A loggerhead shrike has a thicker eye band. A northern shrike has a noticeably thinner eye band that doesn’t extend over the eyes or above the bill. The Lone Ranger wore a mask to keep his identity a secret. Not being able to see a mask kept this shrike’s identity a secret.

Al Batt
Hartland

 


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