Near the Minnehaha Falls a couple of weeks ago my companion and I saw a northern shrike, perched as expected in a high tree in an open area. This bird has a black stripe over its eyes to reduce glare for hunting in the wintertime. It has a hooked beak and hunts like a small hawk. It stores its dead prey in a “larder” by impaling the corpse on twigs. It has the fierce-sounding name Lanius excubitor.
I’ve only seen this bird two or three times, always in winter and always on special days. To me it’s a beautiful bird and its mask makes it look mischievous and cute, like a raccoon.
But to a small bird or mammal the shrike represents gray-and-black terror from the skies! The hooked bill severs its poor victim’s spine. Then the corpse is further brutalized when it’s impaled on a twig to be eaten later!
Included: A photo from the eastern Lake Superior ice caves, accessible due to the especially cold winter.
pseudoisaac 