Shrike the Impaler~

Dec27

The Salton Sea in Southern California is home, at various times of the year, to 424 species of birds.

The Loggerhead Shrike is a song bird who is a tough ten inches of feathered lethality!

Listen to his song repertoire by clicking on the link (be patient, it takes him a bit to warm up!)

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Loggerhead_Shrike/sounds

Loggerhead shrikes sing beautifully, and kill quite effectively, resulting in a couple of common nicknames for them including, ‘the butcher bird’ or ‘the littlest bad ass.’

They kill prey like lizards by impaling them on thorns or barbwire fences. They are tough little birdies.

Despite their toughness, loggerhead shrike populations in California have declined 72% since 1967. They are designated a ‘California Species of Special Concern.’ Efforts by California’s Audubon Society are achieving some success in bringing California shrike population numbers back up. I was thrilled to see this very curious little guy who seemed almost as interested in me as I was in him!

Cheers to you from California’s oh so curious, and oh so beautiful, lethal-little-loggerhead shrike~

221 thoughts on “Shrike the Impaler~”

  7. The minute I heard it singing, a smile popped onto my face. What a gorgeous little predator…stunning mask. I’d love to see one,but I’m in the wrong part of the country. I hope the California Audubon Society will have great success, it would be such a shame to lose these birds.

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  8. ” I was thrilled to see this very curious little guy who seemed almost as interested in me as I was in him!” Maybe he was contemplating what you might taste like, Cindy. 🙂
    Happy New Year. –Curt

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  14. Thank you for sharing these little rascals. I think they are beautiful.
    I’m planning on visiting a place known to be the home of the Eagle-owl before going back to work after the holidays. Birds are interesting animals. Happy New Year Cindy!

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  18. What lovely little power houses they are! I am not aware of the exact number of the birds in my area. I know we used to have more pheasants and Bob Whites (another type of pheasant). But there was an avian flu that killed off quite a bit of them. And just the other year I had wild turkeys in my yard! I hadn’t notice them before.

    Best of the New Year to you and yours! (((Hugs))) From SE, PA 💖

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    • Was für ein schöner Neujahrsgruß mein Freund. Vielen Dank. Frohes und gesundes neues Jahr für Sie. Ich freue mich darauf, ein weiteres Jahr mit Ihnen zu teilen. 👪🌃🥂🎇

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