Saturday, November 30, 2013

Northern Shrike

Northern Shrike (Lanius excubitor)

This predatory songbird spends the summer months on the tundra and taiga and winters in southern Canada and northern U.S.

Lanius excubitor means "butcher bird"

It eats small mammals, birds and insects. It gets its Latin name from its habit of killing more victims than it can eat at one time and then impaling them on barbed wire or tree spines.
I am linking to I'd Rather B Birdin'  HERE.

22 comments:

Revrunner said...

Yikes! Not a bird to be messed with.

Stephanie said...

I would not want to mess with this bird either.

Ruth Hiebert said...

Great shots of this bird.

Karen said...

Gosh EG, I didn't know we had these guys this far south. Great find and terrific shots!

Kathy said...

Naughty bird!

Cloudia said...

radiates sweetness!


ALOHA from Honolulu
Comfort Spiral
=^..^= <3

TexWisGirl said...

what a great looking bird!

Randy said...

So nice of him to pose for you.

Gail Dixon said...

I didn't know there were other shrikes besides the loggerhead until I ran across Anni's post today about the kiskadee. And now you present the Northern. Very pretty birds.

RedPat said...

Pretty bird with bad habits, EG! ;-)

William Kendall said...

A beautiful- and dangerous- bird!

Everything Changes said...

Nice fellow!

Unknown said...

A beautiful bird with interesting behavior.

Stewart M said...

Nice looking bird - I like the faint lines in its chest.

Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne.

HansHB said...

Lovely photos of a "new" bird for me!

Jane of Levant said...

what a handsome little bird - good shots - shame nature is so cruel - Jane UK

Kate said...

My goodness; all that energy from such a small lovely looking bird!

MadSnapper said...

and he looks so innocent

Ela said...

Absolutely gorgeous bird but so dangerous !
Greetings !

eileeninmd said...

Cool sighting and shots of the Shrike!

Anonymous said...

Great captures! I don't think I've heard of this one before. You are so knowledgable about the birds you see.

Kenneth Cole Schneider said...

Beautiful images of the shrike. No hope of seeing one here in Florida, though I was lucky when I visited Churchill, Manitoba.

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East Gwillimbury is a rural town less than an hour north of Toronto, Canada's largest city. My family calls me CameraGirl because I take my camera with me wherever I go.