![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/loggerhead-shrike-8774-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"loggerhead-shrike-8774-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nA fascinating behavior that humans seldom see. I’ve only observed it twice.<\/p>\n
Shrikes are well known for impaling prey on sharp objects as a means of caching food and as an aid for tearing prey apart since their small, weak feet are inadequate for assisting in the task. The unique behavior is also thought to allow them to take advantage of toxic or chemically noxious prey (monarch butterflies and certain toads for example) because allowing such food items to “percolate” for a few days after death causes the toxic substances to degrade and become harmless. This complex and gruesome (to humans) behavior has earned shrikes the somewhat unsavory nickname of “butcher birds”. They’re also commonly referred to as “wannabe raptors”.<\/p>\n
In my experience shrikes typically impale their prey deep in wooded thickets or similar habitats so the behavior is difficult to observe and even harder to photograph. But some years ago I was able capture this young Loggerhead Shrike impaling a dragonfly on a sharp twig on Antelope Island. It seemed obvious to me that ‘he’ was doing it for the practice because he repeatedly impaled the same dragonfly on the same twig.<\/p>\n
Understandably the photos are cluttered with branches and twigs and I was close so I could barely fit him in the frame (all but one of these photos are uncropped) but the behavior is clearly documented. I posted other photos of this bird long ago but this series is new to my blog.<\/p>\n
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He spent some time looking for an adequately small and sharp twig to impale the dragonfly on and here he’s spotted a near-perfect candidate. Can you pick it out in all the clutter?<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/loggerhead-shrike-8774-red-arrow-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"loggerhead-shrike-8774-red-arrow-ron-dudley.\\""){kind=icon}
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In this version of the same photo I’ve marked it with a small red arrow.<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/loggerhead-shrike-8791-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"loggerhead-shrike-8791-ron-dudley\\"")
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He reached far forward to get the dragonfly at the tip of the sharp twig and then…<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/loggerhead-shrike-8794-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"loggerhead-shrike-8794-ron-dudley\\"")
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slowly pulled it down the length of the twig during the impaling process.<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/loggerhead-shrike-8814-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"loggerhead-shrike-8814-ron-dudley\\"")
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Then he carefully checked out his handiwork, apparently to see if he’d done it properly and the dragonfly was secure..<\/p>\n
But there’s a caveat. Shrikes sometimes impale their prey and other times they wedge it in narrow V-shaped forks and I’m not sure which of the two occurred here. It appears to me that the dragonfly could have been wedged or it was imperfectly impaled or both. Either way it worked, so the dragonfly was effectively held in place on or next to the sharp twig.<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/loggerhead-shrike-8822-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"loggerhead-shrike-8822-ron-dudley\\"")
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Once he was satisfied that he’d performed the tricky task properly he pulled the dragonfly off of the twig and then…<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/loggerhead-shrike-8829-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"loggerhead-shrike-8829-ron-dudley\\"")
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impaled it again on the same sharp twig. After this photo was taken he pulled his head away from the impaled dragonfly to make sure it was properly and safely secured and then he…<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/loggerhead-shrike-8835-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"loggerhead-shrike-8835-ron-dudley\\"")
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reached down retrieved it a second time. After impaling the dragonfly a third time he…<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/loggerhead-shrike-8849-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"loggerhead-shrike-8849-ron-dudley\\"")
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used the leverage provided by the impaled dragonfly to pull a chunk off and gobble it down.<\/p>\n
I guess he figured he’d had enough practice.<\/p>\n
Ron<\/p>\n
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PS – Many many thanks to readers for providing an incredible amount of valuable feedback on yesterday’s post about cataract surgery<\/a><\/span><\/span>. I was blown away by all the responses providing exactly the kind of information I was fishing for. Based largely on that feedback I’m pretty much convinced that having the procedure done fairly soon is the smartest decision for me.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A fascinating behavior that humans seldom see. I’ve only observed it twice.<\/p>\n