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Meet the Butcherbird: Loggerhead Shrike
01/11/2012

Loggerhead Shrike. Photo by Doug Brown.

Far from home, along the Texas Gulf Coast, the birding had been exceptional for our small group of wanderers. We’d already covered many of the noted birding destinations such as High Island and Bolivar Flats, and now were looking for wetland obligate species at Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge northeast of Houston.

Initially, I thought that the gray bird with the white wing patches might be a Northern Mockingbird, but its flight was direct, nothing like the undulating, almost flirtatious flight pattern of the mockingbird. Indeed, the Loggerhead Shrike seemed to be a bird on a mission, with a purpose for alighting on the bare branch of a tree only about 30 feet distant. It just sat without moving though, and our birding group soon lost interest. We turned our attention to the numerous wetland birds, remarking on the Least Bittern lurking in the vegetation and the abundant Northern Rough-winged Swallows gracefully swooping over the open water, snaring aerial insects.

Suddenly, a piercing shriek broke the otherwise idyllic sounds of nature. As one, our heads turned toward the sound, only to witness two birds, shrike and swallow, locked in mortal combat. It seemed improbable that the shrike even would have tried to capture the swallow, so buoyant and aerially superior in flight, but it did just that. As we watched with mixed emotions, the shrike first pinned the hapless swallow to the ground, biting its neck, and then flew off out of sight with the victim firmly clamped in its bill.

Loggerhead Shrikes are medium- sized songbirds with bird of prey personalities. At first glance, the shrike hardly appears to be a predator, but it regularly preys on insects, lizards, mice, and birds, hence the common name, “Butcherbird”. Its head is large in proportion to the rest of its body, hence the name “Loggerhead”, which also means blockhead. Not a kind moniker for the little fellow trying to make a living on larger than average-sized prey for songbirds. Although it is technically classified as a member of the order, Passeriformes, to which all songbirds belong, its behavior mimics that of its larger, distantly related cousins, raptors.

Like a raptor, the shrike scans for food from perches. It kills by biting prey in back of neck, cutting the spinal cord. Because it lacks the strong feet and talons of a raptor necessary to hold down and tear its food, it uses thorns and barbed wire to hold large prey while it rips it up, and may wedge prey into a fork in a branch for the same purpose. In some cases, an individual will store, or cache, several carcasses for later consumption and, occasionally a cache cactus or barbed wire fence might be festooned with bodies. Like a raptor, it has a strongly hooked bill for gripping flesh. And, like a falcon it has a strong notch or "tooth" near the bill tip that helps sever the spinal cord of its prey.

Although these attributes sound like a recipe for success, the outlook for the total population is not rosy. Significant declines in this once abundant species have been documented across almost the entire United States since at least the 1970s. Scientific estimates place the total population somewhere between 2.9 and 4 million birds, down from about 10 million birds 40 years ago. This represents a population decline ranging between 60-70%.

In New Mexico, Loggerhead Shrike frequents open pinyon/juniper woodland and deciduous forest. Because they require large territories to adequately support themselves and their offspring (up to 7 per clutch), densities are low, and the bird might be difficult to locate. Keep an eye out on those mockingbirds that also have large white wing patches on their gray bodies. Perhaps you will be lucky and find one with a distinctive black face mask – that would be a Loggerhead Shrike.

$/></div> <br> <hr WIDTH="70%" alIGN="LEFT"> </p> <h3 ALIGN="LEFT"><a href="http://www.newquestcity.com/forums/templates/threads.cfm/category/S32/thread/236094"> A Tale of Two Kestrels</a><br /> 01/11/2012<br /> </h3> <p align="left" style="font-size: 100%; font-family:arial"> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_h39IaHYw8wk/SsplNPJVgNI/AAAAAAAAA78/4CtlWKz3Low/s1600-h/image004.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 264px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_h39IaHYw8wk/SsplNPJVgNI/AAAAAAAAA78/4CtlWKz3Low/s400/image004.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389231182180614354" border="0" /></a>Female American Kestrel. Photo by Keith Bauer.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_h39IaHYw8wk/Sspk6l8GtBI/AAAAAAAAA7s/7uXXihz1Dyk/s1600-h/255628046_YLR3G-M.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 285px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_h39IaHYw8wk/Sspk6l8GtBI/AAAAAAAAA7s/7uXXihz1Dyk/s400/255628046_YLR3G-M.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389230861881619474" border="0" /></a>Male American Kestrel. Photo by Doug Brown.<br /><br /></div>They’ve been called ‘sparrowhawk’ for their habit of preying on songbirds, but in actuality, insects, small lizards and mice are more common fare for North America’s smallest falcon, the American Kestrel. About the size of a robin, the kestrel is four ounces of power-packed muscle, sinew, and determination, trademarks of the little guy, the one who flies harder and fights tougher.<br /> <br />I once watched a male kestrel take on a female Cooper’s Hawk that had intruded into his territory. The Cooper’s Hawk is a bird-eating specialist and no slouch in the flight department, regularly capturing and killing birds as large as pigeons and even pheasants. It also weighs about four times as much as a male kestrel. The little guy’s only advantage was the speed and agility common to all falcons. I heard his battle cry, “killy, killy, killy” long before I saw anything. Within a few seconds, a harried looking coop flapped furiously away from the white cliffs where the kestrel pair were nesting with the little guy in hot pursuit. He would rise above the coop, and then plummet down to attack her back, over and over. In one instance, she turned just as he reached her, rolling onto her back and presenting those dangerous feet right in his face. In that same instant, I knew that he was a goner and that his mate would not be able to rear their clutch of young alone. But, pluck and perseverance served him well, and I watched them fly off together into the distance with the smaller figure keeping up a relentless attack, dive-bombing her repeatedly as they flew out of sight. A few minutes later, he returned victorious, circled the cliff, and took up his position above the nest cavity near the top of the cliff where he could continue his daily patrol, keeping all intruders away from his family. <br /><br />Kestrels build their nests in cavities, ranging from tree cavities to holes in cliff faces to cracks in the eaves of buildings. A couple of years ago, a pair successfully reared four young in the cavity of an expansion joint of interstate 40 where it crossed the Rio Grande in Albuquerque. The cavity ensures that the female and young are well protected from the elements and other predators. It also makes monitoring nest success a challenge because the young are not visible until after they emerge. Within the first few days after the young falcons leave the nest, they are flightless. There isn’t enough space in the cavity for them to stretch their wings and exercise their flight muscles. However, their lungs and voices are fully developed and it is a simple matter to spot the youngsters loudly begging, killying, and calling from their various perches. If you keep a watch on a falcon family, you’ll notice that the babes have very short tails, perhaps an adaptation for the cramped quarters of their nursery. Within a few days, however, the young falcons master flight and the entire family leaves the area.<br /><br />Like all falcons, kestrels have black eyes, and are built for speed with long, pointed wings. However, the similarity with their larger cousins, the merlin, peregrine falcon, and prairie falcon, ends there. The kestrel is a predator but, as a small bird, it is also prey. They have two spots on the back of their head, called false eye spots. The purpose of these spots is to confuse a predator that might attack from the rear into thinking that it is tackling the kestrel head on, and give the falcon a better chance to escape. Kestrels also have two black vertical stripes on their heads, one directly below the eye, and the other slightly farther back. The purpose of the dark mark, called a malar stripe, is to reduce glare from the sun, much like that of football players that paint a black stripe below their eyes.<br /><br />Males and females have different plumages, and can be easily identified. Females have a back and tail with horizontal brown and black bars with a vertically streaked breast. The more colorful males, have handsome bluish gray wings, a clear buffy breast, and a striking rufous tail with a single black bar at the end.<br /><br />In fact, I once heard a story from one of our volunteers, a young birder named Lindsey Porter. Because Lindsey and her family are such strong supporters of Hawks Aloft, we asked her to do the honor of giving our newest educational bird, a male American Kestrel, his name. She thought about it for several days before deciding. She told me that when she was learning about raptors, a man told her that she could always tell the boy kestrels from the girl kestrels because every day when the boys got up, they put on their blue Superman cape! We call Lindsey’s kestrel, Clark Kent. <br /><br />Kestrels adapt well to human activities and often live near businesses and homes in both urban and rural areas. Many people welcome the plucky little birds with the big attitude, not just because they are entertaining, but because they help to reduce rodents and insects. You, too, might be able to attract a kestrel family to your property, particularly if you live near open fields with an abundance of food. Kestrels are known to adapt well to artificial nest boxes. You can find several different nest box plans on the World Wide Web as well as pre-made boxes ready to install in your backyard.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width=$
We also found some surprises, such as the discovery of a nesting population of Purple Martins that were utilizing the standing snags. This led to a two-year study of the martins nesting in a previously unknown region and at the highest elevation reported for the species.

Some birds, like Three-toed Woodpeckers, were associated with numerous snags, undoubtedly benefiting from an increased availability of insects or nesting cavities. Our three studies associated with the Scott Able Fire demonstrated the importance of snags, and post-fire management should consider the effects of snag removal on birds. All snags might not be of equal value to birds. Snags in close proximity to unburned habitat, rather than in isolated patches, might provide better conditions for cavity nesting species. There is much to learn by studying the effect of catastrophic fire on birds, particularly on the relative value of different snag sizes and densities to different groups of birds, especially species of conservation concern.

Although the Scott Able fire was an intense crown fire, it was still only 10% as large as the Las Conchas fire. Our studies found that many bird species either tolerated or benefited from the habitat modification. We observed most species at least once in burned habitat, and several priority and management indicator species regularly used burned habitat. We do not discount the importance of wildfire prevention, especially when human lives and property are threatened; however, our observations revealed some benefits of such a fire. Because many species use, and even depend on, burned habitat, managers should consider wildfires to be of some long-term benefit to the avian community.

For further reading, copies of all three reports are available on the Hawks Aloft website at www.hawksaloft.org, under the Conservation tab/Publications.

Just two days ago, two juvenile birds joined our avian ambassador team, a young Common Raven and a male Cooper’s Hawk (more about the raven in a later issue), courtesy of the Wildlife Center in Espanola, New Mexico. Both had wing injuries that rendered them non-flighted and permanently non-releasable. The good folks at the center had toiled long and hard to rehabilitate the two so they could be returned to the wild, but unless a bird is nearly 100% fit, it would not survive. In cases like these, the only choices are to place them with an educational organization like Hawks Aloft or toeuthanize them.

Coops, as we affectionately call them, are notoriously challenging to handle in captivity and have a well-deserved reputation for aggression. They belong to the Accipiter family, forest hawks that have short, rounded wings and long tails to help them maneuver through dense vegetation in search of prey, primarily other birds. The other two species of Accipiter in North America are the tiny, Sharp-shinned Hawk and the Northern Goshawk. Both of these species nest in coniferous forest where they can coexist because the size of their prey it significantly different.

A neighbor’s compost pile dug up and trashed. Dogs barking during the night. Hummingbird feeders ripped from their hangers. Bird baths overturned. The perpetrator of the vandalism left ample evidence of his or her presence, beginning in late September. It has been several years since a black bear made itself evident in Area 3 north of Jemez Springs, not since the infamous shooting of a harmless bear by a local resident. He paraded the carcass to friends in Belen, was busted by New Mexico Department of Game and Fish when he attempted to have the animal mounted, was roundly roasted in the Thunder, and moved out of state shortly thereafter.

Although, my area of expertise is all things avian, not mammalian, it seems most appropriate to consider the plight of these omnivores during our driest year on record. I contacted Katherine Eagleson, Director of The Wildlife Center (TWC) in Espanola, New Mexico’s largest wildlife rehabilitation center and the only resource for injured, orphaned, or starving large mammals, including predatory mammals. The center has taken in 46 black bears since January 1, 2011. As of October 17, they had 33 bears on site; normal is 6-8 bears.

Wildlife Center staff working performing triage on a new arrival

According to Eagleson, drought has the greatest effect on bears as well as other wildlife. Most of a bear’s diet consists of vegetation. Soft mass (mast) includes berries, grasses and other vegetation and hard mast includes nuts, such as pinyon, and most importantly, acorns, of which there are few this year. It was so dry throughout the winter that, in the early part of this year and through early summer, even the grasses were failing in bears’ foraging areas. Females and their cubs emerged from their dens when little food was available. Females won’t abandon cubs due to food shortage, but the cubs follow their mothers and may be predated upon by other bears. Underweight youngsters are more vulnerable to predation and their biggest threat is other bears. Coyotes and mountain lions also prey upon young bears.

Then, the fires arrived, exacerbating an already tenuous existence and forcing bears from known habitat into the territories of other animals. Starving bears descended on communities statewide, looking for food. According to Eagleson, there has been no formal assessment of food sources for bears, something she would like to see developed as a citizen science project. New Mexico Department of Game and Fish (NMGF) officers have killed over 200 bears this year, problem bears that broke into cabins, have been hit by cars or have other injuries, or have lost their fear of humans. Humans do a lot to exacerbate the problem of habituated bears by leaving out garbage, bird feeders, and feeding dogs outdoors. “A fed bear is a dead bear.”

Young bear in one of the bruin holding pens at The Wildlife Center

TWC only keeps first and second year bears. Other bears, unless injured, are returned to forested areas throughout the state. Cubs normally stay with their mothers for 16-18 months before dispersing. Some female cubs even establish territories adjacent to their mothers. Young born in 2010 and 2011 would normally still be with their mothers and are not ready to be on their own.

Second year bears, those born in 2010, are fattened up as much as possible and are now being released in areas where it is hoped that they will begin hibernation soon. One such bear is the one that was found in Albuquerque near Coors Blvd. The emaciated 18 month old cub arrived at TWC weighing only 50 pounds. During its stint in captivity, it packed on another 150 pounds and became a very feisty bear that needed to be released NOW. All bears are anesthetized for release. Their release is carefully coordinated with NMGF biologists, who select sites that have low human impacts, little traffic, and that should have a food source in the spring when the bear emerges from hibernation. Release sites also have to be evaluated for carrying capacity and the number of bears already present in the area.

Cubs born in 2011 will have to remain on site throughout this winter, and will be released in the spring of 2012. Although they will be very young to be independent, only be 15 months old, TWC can’t effectively keep them over the next summer without seriously habituating them to humans.

Housing and feeding 33 bears might be considered overwhelming to some, but TWC staff seem to take it all in stride. Each bear consumes 6 - 7 pounds of dog food a day, totaling 200 pounds each and every day. That doesn’t include the apples, melons and other fruit donated by grocery stores and individuals. In New Mexico, healthy females weigh 130 – 180 pounds while males tip the scales at 250 – 300 pounds. Bears need to gain 30% of their weight before they got into hibernation. Breeding for bears occurs in June, but fertilization is delayed. If the female is underweight, the egg will not attach and no young will be born the following winter. Eagleson anticipates fairly low cub production in the spring of 2012.

Bears at TWC are held at an off-site location, and the influx of 2011 has required the construction of additional enclosures to safely house their expanded bruin population. When I wondered how one goes about cleaning an enclosure that contains large wild bears, Eagleson quickly responded, “Cleaning through intimidation! We use the same people all of the time. They go in and bang on the doors and yell at the bear and so on.” TWC did receive $20,000 in donated dog food, but needs cash donations to help pay for new enclosures and also pay trained staff to clean the enclosures and care for bears.

It’s an admirable job, and one that I am glad doesn’t belong to me. TWC is always looking for new volunteers. They hold periodic training classes throughout the year. But mostly, they could use cash donations! You can donate online www.thewildlifecenter.org. Please contact TWC center for more information if you are interested in becoming a TWC volunteer.

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Meet the Butcherbird: Loggerhead Shrike
01/11/2012

Information for Santa Fe, New Mexico

Santa Fe, NM

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Meet the Butcherbird: Loggerhead Shrike 01/11/2012

Meet the Butcherbird: Loggerhead Shrike
01/11/2012