Ew. Gross, right? Imagine my surprise when I shooed away my dog Ansel to see what he was licking. It's not everyday you see a bird's head impaled like this. In fact, I've only seen it once before and then it was a grasshopper, not a bird, that had met this gruesome fate. Like this bird, only the grasshopper's poor head remained.
I don't know for a fact this is what happened, but shrikes impale their prey similar to this. And until I did some research, I didn't know they ate/impaled other birds, so it's quite possible. I'm counting it still as somewhat of a mystery, though, because I've never seen a shrike. They look similar to a mockingbird, so perhaps I've overlooked them. I'll have to keep an eye out in the upcoming year, especially with this bit of evidence in mind.
If this is the handiwork of a shrike, I have some questions. Do shrikes typically leave the head to be eaten last, or not at all? And why would a shrike use a four-winged salt bush instead of a mesquite, lotebush, or a javelina bush, all plentiful, all having sharp thorns?
It does make for a sad photo. But, in that way of thinking, no sadder than a picture of a bucket of fried chicken.
Outside Links:
- Here is an interesting video on Youtube of a shrike capturing a mouse and impaling it, from Israel.
- According to WhatBird.com, loggerhead shrikes can be found here year round. Both WhatBird and AllAboutBirds.org include audio also. I need to listen a few more times to commit its calls to memory.
- This article by Ro Wauer on The Nature Writers of Texas blog (now defunct?) is where I learned that shrikes count birds, including larger birds like mockingbirds and jays, as possible prey.
