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Northern Shrike (Lanius excubitor)

Photo Credit: Environment Canada
Ontario Region

Length: 9-10.5 in.
Habitat: Open woolands and brushy swamps in summer; open grasslands with fence posts and scattered trees in winter.
Range: Alaska and the Labrador Peninsula to Quebec, Saskatchewan, and N.British Columbia. Winters south to Viriginia, Texas, and N. Carolina

What to look for: robin-sized; pale gray above, white below, with faint barring on underparts and a bold black mask ending at stout, hooked bill. Black tail with white edges.

The voice is a mixture of warbles and harsh tones with a Robinlike quality, heard especially in late spring.

Unusual among songbirds, shrikes prey on small birds and rodents, catching them with the bill and sometimes impaling them on thorns or barbed wire for storage. Like other northern birds that depend on rodent populations, the Northern Shrike's movements are cyclical, becoming more abundant in the South when northern rodent populations are low. At times these birds hunt from an open perch, where they sit motionless until prey appears; at other times they hover in the air ready to pounce on anything that moves.