{"id":136110,"date":"2023-05-20T05:49:35","date_gmt":"2023-05-20T11:49:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=136110"},"modified":"2023-05-20T07:38:39","modified_gmt":"2023-05-20T13:38:39","slug":"loggerhead-shrike-regurgitating-a-sticky-pellet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2023\/05\/20\/loggerhead-shrike-regurgitating-a-sticky-pellet\/","title":{"rendered":"Loggerhead Shrike Regurgitating A (sticky) Pellet"},"content":{"rendered":"

Including an up-close look at the still wet and warm pellet.<\/p>\n

Yesterday was an unusually buggy morning on Antelope Island (midges, biting gnats and a few mosquitoes) so I doused myself with insect spray and usually didn’t stop for birds unless the situation looked highly promising. So I’m surprised I stopped for this Loggerhead Shrike because ‘he’ wasn’t very close and he was perched on top of a poop-covered pavilion. But with birds you never know what might happen and this time I was rewarded with an unexpected behavior.<\/p>\n

This series is documentary quality only. The photos have been cropped significantly and the shrike was side lit so I only got a catch light in his eye in two of the photos in the series.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

This is the very first photo I took of him out of many. The only reason I got a catch light in his eye is because he turned his head while scratching his neck.<\/p>\n

Note: I’ve seen this neck-scratching behavior quite a few times before, just prior to the bird throwing, or attempting to throw, a pellet. Which makes me wonder if neck scratching is done deliberately in an attempt to help move the pellet up the throat.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

He was surrounded by tiny flying insects, gnats (no-see-ums) I believe because they’re too small to be midges. When he suddenly and without warning opened his mouth without making sound I initially thought he was attempting to snag insects out of the air, like many songbirds do. But it turned out that he was beginning the process of casting a pellet. If you look closely you can see the pellet beginning to emerge from his mouth.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Here the emerging pellet is more easily seen.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It fell from his mouth and hit the peak of the pavilion roof. I expected it to roll down the steep roof and fall to the ground but…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

it stuck right where it landed, probably because it was wet and somewhat sticky.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Almost immediately the shrike flew off, leaving the pellet stuck to the roof.<\/p>\n

I was shooting from the campground road and realized that I could get a closer look at the pellet on the roof if I backed up my pickup and pulled into the actual (empty) campsite. So that’s what I did.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The diet of Loggerhead Shrikes includes Arthropods, amphibians, small to medium-sized reptiles, small mammals and birds. If I had to guess, based on the appearance of this pellet, I’d say this particular shrike has been eating insects primarily. Maybe exclusively.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, there may be some mammal fur in there too. Shrikes on the island sometimes prey on voles.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cornell’s Birds of the World reports the following about Loggerhead Shrike pellets:<\/p>\n