| The physical characteristics of the shrike are remarkable, the head of a hawk and the feet of a sparrow. Often misunderstood and frowned upon by the uninformed, the shrike, nevertheless, occupies a distinct niche in the outdoor world.
Its old nickname, 'butcher-bird,' reflects the sentiments of the early settlers and even the naturalists. Lacking strong feet to hold its prey while feeding, it resorts to impaling its victims on thorns or other sharp projections. It is mostly insectivorous but takes mice and small birds when cold temperatures prevail.
Shrikes are open country birds and avoid wooded areas. They are sometimes mistaken for the mockingbird, but are chunkier with a prominent black line which runs through the region of the eye. The hawk-like head is a good field mark seen in silhouette when the bird is perched on a utility wire.
The loggerhead shrike has become a very rare species locally. I recorded only four individuals in the parks during my thirty years service with the Hamilton County Park District, all in Miami Whitewater Forest. Among the notes of my long-time friend Bill Mers is an account of a one hundred mile bicycle trip he took in 1915, from Cincinnati to Brookville, Indiana. He noted that the shrike was the characteristic bird along the way (mid-April) and he counted sixty-eight between Reily, Ohio and Whitcomb, Indiana.
Length 9 inches
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