NOVEMBER 2000 V.64, N. 11 

       The butcherbird! It seems an ill-fitting name for such a handsome little creature as the loggerhead shrike. At first glance, its other alias, "French mockingbird," seems more appropriate. With its black mask, wings, and tail sharply contrasting with its white underside and gray back, the loggerhead shrike looks like an elegant dressed-up mockingbird. Yet, "butcherbird" aptly refers to the shrike's habit of impaling prey on barbed-wire fence, thorns, and twigs.

      The word "shrike" has the same Anglo-Saxon roots as the word "shriek"; thus, the name may come from a description of the bird's call. Since shrikes have heads that are larger in proportion to their bodies than most birds, they were given the name "loggerhead," which has the same origins as "blockhead." The bird's scientific name, Lanius ludovicianus, comes from the Latin words lanius, which means butcher, and ludovicianus, meaning "of Louisiana," where the loggerhead shrike was first described.

     Since shrikes, unlike raptors, do not have talons for gripping their prey while feeding, they impale it or wedge it into a tree fork to anchor it, then tear off pieces as they feed. Often shrikes leave prey items stuck on barbed-wire fences or thorns and seemingly forget to eat them. Some researchers think they do this to mark their territories. A passing shrike that sees a fence decorated with insects knows that another shrike has already laid claim to the area. A male shrike also may hang up prey to advertise to females his hunting ability and the abundance of prey in his territory. The female shrike needs a steady supply of food from the male while she is incubating her eggs. Prey impaled on barbed-wire fence or thorns is a convenient pantry from which she can feed.

      Shrikes capture mainly small prey such as beetles, grasshoppers, crickets, lizards, frogs, and spiders. In the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, beetles are their number one food item. Occasionally they will prey on mice and small birds. The shrike's large head and hooked bill enable it to kill larger prey with strong pecks to the back of the neck.

      Shrikes often are seen in pastures or other areas that have very low-growing vegetation. They may be able to see and capture prey more easily in these areas than in areas with tall weedy vegetation. Shrikes also use other open habitats such as crop fields and overgrown pastures, but they often frequent the roadside in these two habitats. In crop fields, use of insecticides may make insect prey less available. The tall vegetation of overgrown pastures gives prey more places to hide, so sighting and capture may be more difficult. In contrast, vegetation along the roadside can be very similar to pastures because roadsides are mowed periodically.

      Shrikes often perch on power lines, where they have a good vantage point for hunting, but they also hunt from other exposed perches such as trees, fences, and shrubs. They often perch higher during the summer than the winter, possibly to be more conspicuous to a potential mate during the breeding season. During winter, they perch closer to the ground, possibly to conserve body heat.

      Shrikes are fair weather birds, to a degree, and are much more difficult to find during winter in West Virginia than in summer. On Christmas bird counts in the eastern panhandle, as many as seven shrikes were seen in one year, but in other years, none were observed. Extreme cold, high winds, and wet conditions all seem to drive them to cover. In West Virginia, most shrikes are on their breeding territories by early April; the males usually arrive a week or so before the females. Exactly where the adults are arriving from is somewhat of a mystery.

      Both adults work at building the nest, although they divide up the tasks. The male carries more nest material, while the female is the primary construction engineer. Most nests in West Virginia are built in multiflora rose, eastern red cedar, or hawthorn, all of which are common plants. Multiflora rose and hawthorn tend to leaf out early in the spring, while red cedar is a conifer. All provide cover to hide the early-built nests. The thorns and prickles of these plants also help protect the nest from predators.

      Shrikes often build a second nest later in the breeding season and lay a second set of eggs. This strategy allows them to potentially raise two broods of young in one year. Second nests are occasionally situated high in shade trees that are still bare in April but grow enough foliage to hide the later nest.

      The nest is completed in two to three days, and the female immediately begins laying four to six eggs, one per day. Incubation normally begins the day before the last egg is laid, so the last egg hatches a day later than all of the others. When banding nestlings, it is often obvious which one hatched a day later. The runt in the nest was the last to hatch.

      The female shrike normally sits on the nest and incubates the eggs for 13 to 14 days. During this time, the male brings food to the nest for her to eat. In warm weather, she may leave the nest for a short time to feed on impaled prey or to beg for food from the male. By eating an insect from the pantry rather than catching her own, she saves time and can return to her nest more quickly. She cannot let her eggs get chilled or leave them unguarded from predators for too long.

      The first brood is generally hatched about the end of April. The ever-hungry nestling shrikes eat so many insects that it takes both adults to keep them supplied with enough food. They grow very quickly during this time and their feathers become fully developed. After only 17 to 19 days, they are fully grown and able to leave the nest, or fledge. Although the fledglings try to catch their own food, they are very awkward fliers and are not very good at catching insects. Thus, the parents continue to feed them until the young shrikes have become proficient hunters. While this normally takes only about three weeks, the family stays together until the end of summer. Some researchers have observed young from the first brood helping their parents by feeding fledglings from the second brood and teaching them to hunt.

      Populations of loggerhead shrikes have declined severely in numbers in many parts of their range, particularly in the eastern United States. The only state in the East where they appear to be relatively common is Florida. Although this species once bred throughout much of the Northeast, it now breeds only in West Virginia and Virginia and possibly in New York and Maryland. It is considered a species of special concern in West Virginia by the Division of Natural Resources, while Maryland and Virginia have it "state listed" as an endangered species.

      West Virginia has a small population of breeding shrikes; only eight pairs were known to fledge young in 2000. In 1994, only one pair of breeding shrikes was found in Maryland; none have been seen since then. Virginia has the highest number of breeding shrikes, although long-term monitoring data indicate an 88 percent decline in the breeding population between 1968 and 1989, with declines continuing through 2000. This Mid-Atlantic population is centered in and around the Great Valley area of eastern West Virginia, western Maryland, and western Virginia, with an estimated number of less than 100 breeding pairs. Proximity of the Great Valley to the metropolitan areas surrounding Washington, D.C. and recent increases in development place this shrike population at great risk.

      While several nesting pairs of loggerhead shrikes have been found in Berkeley and Jefferson counties, no systematic surveys have been conducted to look for shrike nests in other parts of West Virginia. Banding studies conducted on young shrikes that have fledged from nests in the eastern panhandle have shown that many of the birds do not return the next year. Apparently, many do not survive their first winter. Studies on adult shrikes, captured using Potter traps or mist nets and then banded, have shown that many do not survive until the next breeding season, particularly during a harsh winter. Mortality during winter is one possible reason for shrike declines.

      There is a lack of information about shrike habitat needs outside the breeding season. It is not known if wintering habitat is in short supply, perhaps resulting in high mortality during winter months. Loss of shrike breeding habitat from farmland abandonment, development, and changes in agricultural practices is also a common explanation for shrike declines. Still, while substantial amounts of seemingly suitable, unoccupied breeding habitat remain, for an unknown reason, shrikes just do not use it. Shrikes breeding in West Virginia and Virginia have relatively high reproductive success most nests fledge several young which implies that pesticide contamination is not a problem.

      Another factor implicated in shrike declines, especially that of juveniles, is collisions with vehicles. Shrikes often hunt along roadsides because of the presence of barbed-wire fences, hedgerows, or grassy strips. They typically fly low to the ground, so when they cross a road, they may inadvertently fly into the path of an oncoming car. No one knows exactly why shrike numbers have decreased so dramatically, but these factors are possible culprits.

      If you see a loggerhead shrike while driving along a country road, stop for a few moments to watch and enjoy the beauty of the French mockingbird. It may surprise you by suddenly darting into the grass and returning to its perch with a beetle for its pantry.

      Petra Bohall Wood, a research biologist with the Biological Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey and an adjunct associate professor at West Virginia University, has studied shrikes in West Virginia and Florida. A member of the Brooks Bird Club, Robert Dean has been banding and studying shrikes in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia for many years.

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      If you see a loggerhead shrike anywhere in West Virginia, please report it to Shrike Sighting, Division of Natural Resources, P.O. Box 67, Elkins, WV 26241, or call 304-637-0245. Try to record the date you observed the bird, the county and specific location (draw a map, if possible), a detailed description of the bird and its behavior (especially breeding behavior and the presence of young), and a brief description of the habitat. Please do not disturb any nesting shrikes that you may find. Instead, report your find to the DNR and a trained biologist will investigate.