by Doug Reeves, assistant chief, DNR Wildlife Division
I was outside, headed back to the house, when I heard a bird song that seemed to be a jumble of various noises. It was not a clear, predictable song, and much of it was what I would call a racket – sounding like a disturbed or distressed bird – but it was one that I had heard several times before. I knew it was a northern shrike. This makes the fourth year in a row that we have had at least one shrike visit our 40 acres. Previously, they were rare visitors that stopped in for a short time and then disappeared just as quickly. Lately they have been staying for prolonged periods. That may be because the mix of fields and brush suits them very well now.
Northern shrikes have a subtle beauty, being varying shades of gray, white and black. The blocky head, black eye stripe and hooked beak are important identification marks. They tend to be quite visible much of the time, setting on electric lines, the tops of trees and other conspicuous places. My experience has been that they arrive around the first of December and are gone by mid-February. They seem to prefer old fields and brushy areas here. Michigan is in the midst of the wintering region for this bird. Northern shrikes nest in the far northern subarctic forests and tundra. They only go as far south as they have to in winter, which means they don’t go much below mid-Ohio, Indiana and Illinois in this region. [Northern shrike photo courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service]
There are actually two shrike species that may be seen in Michigan, and they can be difficult to tell apart. The other species is the loggerhead shrike, and it does nest in Michigan, but so rarely as to be listed on the endangered species list. Loggerhead shrikes tend to be a bit smaller than northern shrikes, and while there was a day when it was important to me to carefully study the birds to ensure which species I was viewing, these days I am satisfied to determine that the shrikes that appear at our place are northern shrikes due to the timing of their appearance and their comparatively large size, which is similar to the size of a blue jay. If a shrike shows up in April or May, I will pay much closer attention to it and determine which species it is for sure.
Shrikes are unusual. Almost every reference you find will describe them as “predatory songbirds.” Predatory they are, and sometimes you can know they are in the area without even seeing or hearing them. That’s because they sometimes stash their prey in bushes where they are quite visible. Over the years I have found such prey as a chickadee, meadow vole and white-footed mouse stashed in the crotch of a shrub or hanging in a multiflora rose bush. Last winter I discovered the presence of a shrike at the Shiawassee River State Game Area when I found a meadow vole hanging in the crotch of a gray dogwood shrub (see photo on the left).
That finding caused me to watch birdlife closely, and sure enough, I saw a shrike within about 200 yards of that vole. I have also seen shrikes on several other state game and wildlife areas in central Michigan over the years, including the Gratiot-Saginaw, Maple River and Rose Lake areas. They are never abundant, and I cannot say that I have ever seen more than two at any one time, but because they are predators, I would not expect to see them congregated in groups.
The shrike I saw continued the racket for most of the 20 minutes it took me to walk back to the house. Then, just as I entered the yard, it dove off the power line and chased after a small bird. They went around and through a willow thicket, and in a matter of seconds, the chase was off. I think the smaller bird may have escaped into a brush pile on the edge of the thicket. The shrike went back up and sat on the power line but was quiet for the time being.
As I thought about that chase, it occurred to me that I have only observed a few attempts at predation by shrikes, and I have not seen one that was successful. Yet, it is also true that I have not seen the smaller birds become alarmed at the presence of a shrike the way they do when there is a Cooper’s hawk or American kestrel in the neighborhood. Is that because they don’t recognize it as a predator until it is actively chasing them? I wonder…
Watch birdlife around your area this winter as you participate in outdoor activities. You might just see a shrike or find a prey item stashed in a bush somewhere.
Northern shrikes have a subtle beauty, being varying shades of gray, white and black. The blocky head, black eye stripe and hooked beak are important identification marks. They tend to be quite visible much of the time, setting on electric lines, the tops of trees and other conspicuous places. My experience has been that they arrive around the first of December and are gone by mid-February. They seem to prefer old fields and brushy areas here. Michigan is in the midst of the wintering region for this bird. Northern shrikes nest in the far northern subarctic forests and tundra. They only go as far south as they have to in winter, which means they don’t go much below mid-Ohio, Indiana and Illinois in this region. [Northern shrike photo courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service]
Shrikes are unusual. Almost every reference you find will describe them as “predatory songbirds.” Predatory they are, and sometimes you can know they are in the area without even seeing or hearing them. That’s because they sometimes stash their prey in bushes where they are quite visible. Over the years I have found such prey as a chickadee, meadow vole and white-footed mouse stashed in the crotch of a shrub or hanging in a multiflora rose bush. Last winter I discovered the presence of a shrike at the Shiawassee River State Game Area when I found a meadow vole hanging in the crotch of a gray dogwood shrub (see photo on the left).
