A Roadside Northern Shrike

Northern Shrike - Durand, Wisconsin

While Northern Shrikes are "regular" winter visitors in Pepin County, Wisconsin, I am always surprised to see one.  This winter I've spotted shrikes several times in a half-dozen places - including at my bird feeders.  I spotted this one today around noon on State Road 85 across from the Tappe farm (fire sign W5332).

It was sitting on a wire along a busy road - not a great place to hunt small bird prey and rodents (the ground is covered with a crust of ice).

We pulled off the road and watched, hoping to see this bird make a move - get a meal, hover, or cast a pellet. 

It was not meant to be.  After only a few minutes, the bird took off and headed towards the subdivision to the east.   We did not follow.

While I "know" this bird is a Northern Shrike, I can't seem to remember the differences between the Northern and Loggerhead Shrikes.  I see so few of them that I always have to check my field guide.

Take a look at the two shrikes:

Loggerhead Shrike (l) and Northern Shrike (r)

Mockingbirds are also gray, black and white.  But shrikes are chunkier in both colors and size.  When in doubt, think "mockingbirds on steroids."

Northern Mockingbird © HvHughes

Hawks, Eagles and a Winter Red Fox

A roadside Red-tailed Hawk

After a weekend of snow and ice, the sun was shining and the sky was blue.  Despite the freezing temperatures (21- degrees F), I couldn't resist taking the Prius out to look for roadside raptors.  I didn't have to go far.  Rural Pepin and Buffalo Counties in west-central Wisconsin are full of hawks, shrikes and eagles.

A roadside Northern Shrike

Rough-legged Hawk

 

I was surprised to see so many Bald Eagles perched in trees along the farm roads - several miles from the frozen Chippewa River.

Bald Eagles at State Road 85 and Pepin County Road T

The sky turned gray around 2pm and it started to snow.  At the intersection of State Road 85 and County T, I asked my husband:  should we head home, or turn left on to Marsh Road?  I didn't wait for an answer.  I turned left.  I've never been on Marsh Road... maybe there actually is a marsh... maybe we'll see something out of the ordinary.

The road was icy.  I started to wonder if this was such a good idea after all.  But the Prius pulled us up the hill without a slip.

Then we saw something out of the ordinary.   I stopped the Prius; put it into park; and held my breath as I opened the window on the passenger side.  I pulled up my camera and snapped 2 photos of a red fox walking across the farm field, sniffing for rodents.

 It stopped and looked at us, then ambled off towards the tree line.

Red foxes are not uncommon in west-central Wisconsin.  Spotting them in the daytime is, however, a rare treat.   We sat in the comfort of the car - and watched, hoping to see this one pounce on a mouse or vole.  Not today.

This is the time of year when red foxes pair up and mate.  Their dens are almost always near some kind of water - a marsh, pond or stream.   Kits are born in March and April.  

A couple of years ago, I spotted a fox den and two kits, in a cornfield on State Road 25.

I was surprised to learn that red foxes are native to North America - and that they are the most widely distributed carnivore in the world.  Back in colonial times, the British imported red foxes to what is now the eastern United States - for sport hunting.

Populations of red fox increased as wolves were extirpated and continent was changed by human settlement.

Yikes! A Shrike at My Feeders

I got up before dawn and looked outside my kitchen window to see if Northern Cardinals were up early and at the feeders.  Nope, no cardinals.  

I did, however,  spot two dark lumps on the ground under my feeding trays (full of millet and cracked corn).  Rabbits.  I left them to eat in peace, while I fixed a cup of espresso and turned on the TV.  Not much on the network news - just advice on how to salvage an overcooked holiday dinner.  (I kid you not). 

I turned off the TV and stared out the kitchen window.  It was still dark, but I could see the birds starting to move around.  I put on my boots, jacket, hat and gloves, then went outside to sweep and shovel a path to the feeders.  (We've had a record-setting amount of snow this December).

I filled the tube feeders with sunflower hearts and took the peanut butter cup feeder down to clean and reload it.   Minutes later, I was back outside, standing right in front of the pole, ready to put the peanut butter feeder back on its hook.  

That's when it happened.  

I heard the sound of wings and felt the air move by my right ear.  Startled, I looked up and caught a flash of gray and white feathers, now hovering by the maple tree.  Then the bird with the gray and white feathers (and black mask) was gone - and along with it all the birds at my feeders.

Who was that masked bird?  A mockingbird on steroids?  No, kemosabe, it was a Northern Shrike!

Yep, the predatory songbird flew within inches of my face.

I presume the shrike was heading for a landing on the double-arm pole from which my Droll Yankees tubes and peanut butter feeder hang.   We both happened to arrive at the same time.  Or it could have been that the shrike was after one of the "tame" chickadees scolding me from its perch on the pole.

I've spotted a shrike using that pole for a perch several times in the past week, but I haven't been quick enough to get my camera up and focused.

The near-collision fly-by did it for me.  Today would be the day I'd get a photo of that shrike.  I vowed to stand in front of my kitchen window with my camera until I did.

It turned out to be a very interesting morning.  

The shrike made at least a dozen passes at the feeders, but didn't land anywhere near its "normal" perch on the shepherd's pole.  My photo set-up was all for naught.   Most of the time, I didn't see the shrike at all - just the other birds' reaction to it.  And when the shrike wasn't around, I watched a yard full of songbirds frantically eating seed, suet and snow. 

How do the birds recognize shrikes as predators?  It may be "learned."  What do they do when a shrike shows up?  I watched chickadees and Downy Woodpeckers "freeze" in place.  That strategy probably works better when they're on a tree limb or trunk.   Perched on a pole, they're so obvious.

The Hairy Woodpeckers, goldfinches and sparrows exploded into the sky.  

Bluejays bolted, then hung around to watch from the relative safety of the spruce tree.

It took 4 hours to get the photo at the top of this blog.  Not a great photo, but good enough for identification purposes.

I assume this shrike has been perched in a tree with an unobstructed view of the feeders.  With a little luck, and a better angle - using the Prius as a photo blind - maybe I'll get a better photo of a Northern Shrike this winter.

I've seen both our "winter" shrike, the Northern, and our "summer" shrike, the Loggerhead here in the Lower Chippewa River valley.  According to Robbins (Wisconsin Birdlife), Northern Shrikes have arrived as early as September, but they're more likely to arrive in late October and show up at bird feeding stations in January and February. 

Loggerhead Shrikes nest in Wisconsin, but their numbers have dropped precipitously.  According to the Wisconsin Breeding Bird Atlas, only a handful of them nest in Wisconsin.   They're listed as endangered in the Badger State (habitat loss and pesticides may play a role in their decline).  Look for them in February and March.   I've seen them along R107 in Meridean.  Loggerheads migrate south in October.  

Check out this website for tips on how to identify the two species. 

Chickadees and the Shrike

This time of year, the weather provides an easy excuse for me to stay indoors.   I have the time and motivation to pay closer attention to the more common birds - the chickadees, nuthatches, house finches, tree sparrows and juncos outside my window.  

The chickadees caught my attention the other day.   I couldn't help but wonder:  How do those little creatures survive when the temperature drops way below freezing?

To find an answer, I did a google "scholar" search and re-read my copy of  the Birds of North America (BNA) monograph number 39 - Black-capped Chickadees by Susan Smith.

Tipping the scale at a third of an ounce (the weight of 2-25¢ coins), chickadees need to eat all day long this time of year.   During mild winters, they need a caloric input comparable to about 150 sunflower seeds a day.  When the thermometer drops below zero, that number goes up to approximately 250 seeds. 

Despite what I see at my feeders, chickadees eat more than sunflower, suet and peanuts.  Scientists who’ve studied them say the Black-capped Chickadee’s winter diet is 50% animal and 50% plant material. 

This time of year, their wild” diet is comprised of seeds and insects they’ve cached in autumn, insect eggs and pupae, spider eggs, animal fat from carrion (dead deer, skunks and even fish), seeds (goldenrod, ragweed and hemlocks) and fruits (including poison ivy). 

Although chickadees depend primarily on natural food sources, birdfeeders provide an important supplement to their winter diet. According to a University of Wisconsin study, Black-capped Chickadees get only 14-29 percent of their daily energy requirement at backyard birdfeeders.   This may explain why chickadees are more likely to visit feeders at dusk than at dawn.

In addition to caching food and adding more plant materials to their diet, Black-capped Chickadees have other adaptations that help them get through winter.

   - Chickadees have very warm coats.  Their dense winter feathers are incredibly efficient insulation.  The difference between a chickadee’s body temperature (108-degrees Fahrenheit) and the ambient air an inch away can be more than 120 degrees!  

   - Chickadees have a remarkable ability to remember where they've cached food during the fall.  What happens inside their brain to facilitate this is simply amazing.  According to Colin Saldanha, assistant professor of biological sciences at Lehigh University, in the fall, the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for spatial organization and memory, expands in volume by approximately 30 percent by adding new nerve cells. And in the spring when food is more readily available, the chickadee's hippocampus shrinks back to its normal size.  

   - Chickadees have the ability to metabolize food quickly.  They can put on up to 8% of their body weight in a day (that would be 12 pounds a day for a 150 pound man).  That’s all the fuel they have to get them through the night - along with an amazing ability to turn down their internal thermostat 12 to 15 degrees.  This regulated hypothermia conserves energy.  If they make it through the night, chickadees get to face another day of eating - to replenish their fat stores.

And if dealing with the weather wasn’t daunting enough, chickadees have to be alert to predators.  At night, chickadees are prey for Screech and Northern Saw-whet Owls.  During the day, it’s Sharp-shinned Hawks and Northern Shrikes.

As I watched one of the chickadees bounce like a ping-pong ball from the sunflower feeder to the Blue Spruce and back, I marveled at its high energy. 

Then all of a sudden, all the birds bolted.   

I stood up to get a better look at what caused the "evacuation."  I couldn’t believe my eyes when I spotted it.  Just ten yards from my window, sitting on top of my double-arm pole, was a bird that looked like a mockingbird on steroids.   

It was a Northern Shrike - a.k.a. the butcher bird - a predatory songbird, a winter visitor from the tundra.  This amazing creature can make a meal of any of the birds that visit my feeding station - including birds as large as a Mourning Dove and Blue Jay.  

This was only the second shrike I'd seen at my feeders in the past 10 years.