Bird of Prey!

What a name!   There is a bird with the most unbecoming name for such a pretty little thing!  The Loggerhead Shrike's name gives the impression that this is a huge bird with a raucous call not a tiny bird with a twittering song!  One was out and about the marsh edge this evening.  Its calls are what first attracted my attention but then I was duly impressed with its seemingly disinterest in my presence.  Where as most birds will keep their distance of at least twenty or so feet, this little thing cared not that I was a mere five or six feet away.  It just kept right on with its preening with outbursts of song. It sat on a bramble keeping a sharp eye open for potential supper!  Every now and again it would leave its perch to swoop down upon some hapless prey.  Then it would always go back to its lookout post and preen.

The Loggerhead Shrike is also known by two other equally if not more unflattering names!  It also goes by the name "Butcherbird" or "Thornbird" and for good reason!  At least these are a bit more understanding as it probably came about them by its feeding habit.  The Butcherbird will kill prey even if does not feel hungry at the moment.  It is never one to pass up a handy meal.  It will kill whatever prey it spies by attacking it by the back of the neck.  If it is a small mammal or reptile, this severs the spinal cord and kills it immediately.  The prey is then impaled on a sharp thorn or barbed wire fence and ripped apart.  If by chance, the bird is not hungry, it will still hunt and impale prey to be used later. The bird is relatively small but hunts not only insects but lizards, mice, frogs and even other birds!  Ahh, perhaps Butcherbird is not so unfitting after all nor is Thornbird!

I watched the Butcherbird for a good long while.  The evening sun soon brought darkness to the marsh and my little friend settled in for the night.  I am actually rather happy to see this bird making its home in the brush near the Bayou.  Not that it is a rare bird but its numbers are declining and in some places it is already considered endangered.  This decline seems to be again tied in with human interference.  The development of land and the use of chemical pesticides and herbicides is highly detrimental to all wildlife.  Perhaps living here on the Bayou will be a safe place for this little bird.  I hope so.