Wildlife Wednesday — Northern Shrike

By Andy Ames, EVWC Board Member

As I finished up a run last week, I noticed a small bird flying by carrying a passenger. That bird was a Northern Shrike with its meal, a mouse. You have to admire a bird that migrates to the Estes Valley to spend the winter. The Northern Shrike spends the summer and breeds way up on the edges of boreal forests in Northern Canada and Alaska. Shrikes are unique among song birds being strict carnivores eating anything from ants, bees and grasshoppers to mice, voles and lemmings, to other song birds and even carrion. They employ a wide variety of hunting strategies. You will often see them perched on a lookout like a tree, bush, or fence scouring the area below for prey. They also hunt from the air, hovering overhead and then swooping down to pin an unsuspecting bug or mouse. Other times they may scoot through the brush or along the ground to flush out a potential meal. But sometimes the best strategy is just to sit and wait, hiding in cover for a bird to come along to ambush.

So keep your eye out for these amazing birds for they will soon be heading north for the summer.

Northern Shrike with its catch of the day- a mouse. The Shrike flew to the safety of a bush but was soon discovered by a pair of Stellar’s Jays and flew off.

Northern Shrike with its meal. Shrikes catch their prey with their feet or beak then pinching it with its barbed beak to paralyze it before shaking it to break its neck. Wow! For insects like bees or wasps, Shrikes will break off the stingers and for larger insects may remove the wings and legs to allow it to go down easier.

Northern Shrike in flight.

Hmmm, it looks like this one just finished its meal. Shrikes are known for caching their prey on thorns or crevices of trees if they are not able to finish it at once.

Northern Shrike puffed up on a cold winter’s day.