Loggerhead Shrike
WANTED (for its ability to stick to the point)
Ever read,
Hyperion by Dan Simmons? Remember the fearsome, victim-impaling sentient known as The Shrike?
Would you believe the character and its painful m.o. were most likely inspired by the Laniidae (butchers!) family bird, known as a Shrike?
Besides the winter opportunities to see the Northern Shrike, it’s the
Loggerhead Shrike we Americans have the best chance of observing.
It’s a bird that caught my interest because of its impaling tendencies. The Loggerhead Shrike will hunt small animals and insects and impale them on thornbushes and barbed wire.
Why the butchery? The Shrikes are birds of prey who lack the talons to effectively get the killing done. So, they compensate...