Shrikes

[dsonyay]

Happy Super Bowl Sunday

I've got a little Shrike that's been hanging out in my backyard for a few weeks now. He/she has been in either one of my trees on the side or my back neighbor's tree. Are these birds aggresive with PMs? That little hooded head makes them seem meaner than normal :-)

I remember a few weeks ago there was a post about shrikes but I cannot find it.

[Steve Kroenke]

Hey David,

I posted an article about the shrike. Here is the link if you are interested in reading it:

http://purplemartin.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=211

Steve

[dsonyay]

yes- that's it. Thanks!

[adrianhans]

Hi David,
I am no expert on the topic, but can relate personal experience to you.
I have about 3 pairs of shrikes who use the martin perches to survey the surroundings for food. The martins more than likely ignore them. They will chase them off on occasion. The only problem I see is that they compete with mockingbirds for food and are more successful, so the mockers tend to move on.
However, last March during a cold snap, I saw something scarey. 13 martins had packed themselves in a Troyer horizontal w/ WC entrance for communal nesting. One was lodged along with a couple of others in the entrance. It could not get out or back up. A hungry shrike began pummeling the martin's head. The whole time I was screaming and lowering the rack, the shrike was relentless in his attack. Once the martins were freed, the shrike kept coming back to that gourd to find a meal??? Anyway, unbelievably to me, after I put scrambled eggs out on the B & B tray, the shrike was on it eating the eggs. I guess he was just very hungry. I never had any more trouble with it or any others.
Under normal conditions, I think the shrikes mind their own business, which does not include martins.

I hope my super bowl numbers win. I will buy some more gourds!
Adrian

[Scully]

Shrikes are commonly underestimated as predators, I have seen one flying across the road one winter carrying a dead male cardinal by the nape of the neck. Some of the barbed wire fences on Lackland AFB near here are festooned with dead Mexican freetail bats courtesy of their local shrikes, and I have seen them catch hummingbirds twice.

For a number of years we had a pair nest in close proximity to our martin colony (sadly, they have not been present in recent years). I never did see them go after martins, but they would bring in fledgling house sparrows to feed their young.

Whatchng recently-fledged shrikes feed was a trip, they would gather around and tear the dead fledglings apart like miniature dinosaurs, swallowing whole chunks of it at once.

Mike Scully

[dsonyay]

the little lone shrike I often see was amazing today. He looked like he was watching something then scooted to a closer tree stared down at the ground, jumped off the branch, hovered over the ground then pounced on something that looked like a large bug. He seemed happy with it and gobbled it down.

Sharp looking bird- but the little mask on their eyes really gives them a mean look!

[salandry54]

Loggerhead Shrikes are predator birds and are bad news! Their nickname is "the butcher bird." They are known for killing small birds and rodents and stabbing the dead onto branches to come back again and again to feed on it. They are very aggressive in winter. We always try to deter them from our yard. Dont' underestimate them due to their size!

[Louise Chambers]

While they can eat small birds, rodents, lizards, and small snakes, their main prey is insects. I doubt they'd bother an adult martin, but a small nestling on the ground or out on porch prematurely would be at risk.

We have nesting Loggerhead Shrikes that visit our yard regularly to dine on the live mealworms and zophoba worms we put out a few times a day - mockingbirds, shrikes, and woodpeckers share the feeding areas. Martins use the feeder too, but not unless food is in short supply due to weather.