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The Eastern Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus migrans) is a unique combination: a migratory songbird that hunts like a hawk.

To spot one, look for:
• a body slightly smaller than a robin’s
• a raccoon-like black mask across the eyes
• a grey-white breast
• a bluish-grey back
• a black tail
• black wings with prominent white patches

Keep your ears open as well. The loggerhead shrike's call is a disjointed warble similar to a mockingbird's.

It’s easy to confuse Eastern Loggerhead Shrikes with their close relative, the Northern Shrike. However, the Northern Shrike is larger and has a more barred underside. It is generally seen in Canada during the late fall and winter months when most loggerhead shrikes have migrated south for the winter. (The Ontario Field Ornithologists provide detailed information on how to tell the two apart.)


 

 

 

 

You'll most likely see an Eastern Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus migrans) perched on a treetop, fence post or telephone wire in an open area on the lookout for food. When it spots a potential meal, the shrike swoops in low to the ground and kills its prey with a quick blow from its strong hooked beak.

Shrikes eat large insects such as grasshoppers, crickets, dragonflies and beetles. Occasionally they capture snakes, mice, voles and even small birds. What makes the shrike unusual is its specialized feeding behaviour. After killing its prey, the shrike sometimes stores its catch on thorns or barbed wire where it can easily tear the food apart.

If you come across a small creature impaled in this way, there
may be a shrike in the neighbourhood!



Shrikes like short grasses where they can find mice, voles and insects. Centuries ago, loggerhead shrikes lived on the plains and grasslands of eastern and central Canada, all the way from New Brunswick to eastern Manitoba.

In the 19th century, after settlers began clearing forests to create farmland, shrike numbers grew as they took advantage of this new habitat. Today, however, intensive farming practices and urban development combined with the decline of the family cattle farm have reduced the amount of shrike habitat — and the number of shrikes.

In 2009, fewer than 35 breeding pairs were spotted in Canada, and the sightings were restricted to just a few areas , and the sightings were restricted to just a few areas:

• In southeast Manitoba: in the suburban communities of West St. Paul, Rosser and Headlingley
• In Ontario: on the Napanee Plain, the Carden Plain, the Smiths Falls Plain, Renfrew, and Grey and Bruce counties

Until recently, they were also found in Quebec’s Outaouais region and on Manitoulin Island in Ontario.

The majority of rare sightings are in the Carden and Napanee areas of Ontario, with only one pair confirmed in other areas.

 

 

 

 

 

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Typical shrike habitat consists of open grassland with hedgerows, scattered trees or thorny shrubs to provide sites for nesting and perching.

In Ontario and Quebec, shrikes usually nest in hawthorns (Crataegus), red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) and spruce (Picea). In southeastern Manitoba, they prefer hawthorn, scattered willow (Salix), small spruce (Picea) and non-native caragana and Russian olive (Eleangus angustifolia).