Happy Holidays Fellow Birders, As I was driving through the new sub division west of the Graham Creek I sighted a NORTHERN SHRIKE flying overhead and landing on the roof of the house on the corner of Water View & Lake Breeze south of Newcastle. Yes, 9-11 " long. Large-headed, with dark hooked bill. Pale gray above, white below, with faint bars on breast; wings black with white patches; tail black with white outer edges. Black mask through eyes does not extend across bill. People have been asking me what the NORTHERN SHRIKE looks like and how they behave.
Though classified as a songbird --most of which pose no threat to anything larger than an insect--NORTHERN SHRIKES are fearsome predators indeed,with a diet that includes mice, snakes, frogs and other birds. They knock their avian victims out of the air with sharp blows from their bills, then bite therir necks to sever the vertabrae. As he shot through the sky a flock of AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES spread themselves out of the way. NORTHERN SHRIKES dispatch land animals in much the same way, for they have a formidable crushing weapon --a toothlike structure on the upper mandible with a matching notch on the lower bill, similar to the bills of falcons. Then dining on insects, they catch their prey in midair and swallow it in a single gulp. Insects make up about twothirds of the shrikes' summer diet, while the birds are nesting in the Far North, but in winter, of necessity, they eat mostly mice and birds. NORTHERN SHRIKES are also called butcher birds --and with good reason. Before eating their vertebrate prey --and often large insects as well-- They characteristally hang the animal, head up, on a thorn or barbed-wire fence, or wedge it into the fork of a branch. There they either down their catch immediately or allow it to hang, as in an open-air pantry, for a day or two---sometimes even for a week or more--before returning for a meal. No sooner did I leave the area and was driving on the Lakeshore Rd. east of the Graham Creek or I sighted another NORTHERN SHRIKES or was it the same one and he had beat me to it. Once again he shot through the air on the Newcastle Bluffs, landed on a brance of a tree, flew over to one of the utility wires for a perch and carried on to one of the Blue Spruce trees north of the Lakeshore. No sooner had I completed my enjoyment or I sighted a gorgeous Fox trotting across the field. Afte all of the excitement I ended up at my home where I counted 41 REDPOLLS at the Niger feeder. Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year to you all! Directions: Take # 440 cutoff on 401 and take Mill St. south till you come to a "V" and go straight on Port of Newcastle Drive to Lake Breeze and turn east to Water View Dr. The corner hous is where he perches for a while. Then drive back to Mill St. and turn south to the Lakeshore Rd. and drive east till around the bends and keep an eye on the utility wires. Sometimes you may even view an AMERICAN KESTREL perched. Markus Lise Newcastle, On _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected] For instructions to join or leave ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdssetup.php ONTBIRDS Guidelines may be viewed at http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdsguide.php
