Northern Shrike
We
had a northern shrike come into the yard at least three times today.
The
first indication was the mad scramble by small birds to get away.
He
made what looked like half hearted attempts to catch one of the
siskins that are mobbing our feeders.
At
one point it called which sounds like rapid rasping "aak-aak"
Lanius
excubitor
A
predatory songbird, the Northern Shrike breeds in taiga and tundra
and winters in southern Canada and the northern United States. It
feeds on small birds, mammals, and insects, sometimes impaling them
on spines or barbed wire fences.
Both
male and female Northern Shrikes sing throughout year. The male sings
especially in late winter and early spring.
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