The Deadly Songbird
Not only is it deadly but it is also clever. Read how this bird tricks its prey.
The Innocent Looking Songbird has Many Voices
The innocent looking bird sings sweetly in the tree. It looks like a song bird, sounds like a song bird, and is demure appearing with its bluish gray and white coloring. It has a pleasant sound and it whistles in a low-voiced melody. It appears to have a tiny mask, and perches on the branch with delicate feet.
She Thought She Heard Her Baby Cry…
Soon it sees its next victim and lets out a plaintive cry like a baby bird in distress. Mother birds from the neighborhood flock to find out what is wrong with their young, and the watchful bird selects his prey from the unsuspecting flock of concerned mother birds.
The Strike of the Shrike
Before the plump little mother bird realizes, the shrike, or Butcherbird, as it is commonly called is fighting the intended dinner to the ground. While a hawk has talons with which it can rip its victim, the shrike uses his/her hooked beak and an incredible determination to fight the other bird to the ground. As the Butcherbird pounces on the other bird, which is of equal size, he lets out another sound entirely different from the two heard before. It sounds somewhat similar to the thin shrill sound of a child’s whistle. Keeeeeee! And the bird attacks again!
She Didn’t Know What Hit Her
He clubs the other bird senseless with his hooked beak, and once the victim is either unconscious or dead carries it some where to hang for dining, some now and some later.
The most common place the butcherbird hangs its prey is from a thorn, by impaling it be sure to place the object on the thorn in such a way that the end of the thorn protrudes through the victim. He or she has also been known to use tree branches, and twist the birds own leg around them. Barbed wire fences make a good substitute to impale the victims on.
Off with the Head
After impaling, he or she may decapitate and peck daintily from the lungs. Sometimes the Butcherbird simply impales the other bird and takes flight looking for another. Alan Devoe, the author of “Butcherbird” states there is something eerie about the sound of the Keeee. He has witnessed the fumbling fights, and then … “all those little impaled bodies, skewered in the thorn tree, with their heads pulled off…” 1964
The Bird is a Carnivore
Butcherbirds eat a varied diet; however, it is made up of meat. They eat lizards, large insects, small birds, mice, small snakes, and mammals and rodents.
Taken from “Marvels & Mysteries of Our Animal World”
The Dash is Quick and Direct
While the Butcherbirds flight is less than direct and is in fact undulating but when it makes up its mind to pounce, the dash is direct, and astonishingly quick.
Deadly and Powerful
Note the hooked beak and black feet this particular breed of shrike has. Their beaks are deadly and powerful.
An Artist and Educator, Burney Tompkins
Burney tells of watching the Butcher Bird for several years, in his home in Tennessee. There he says the particular species they have is the Logger Head Shrike, which he describes as a beautiful black, white and gray bird the approximate size of a robin. In observing the bird he describes them as being similar to a hawk or other predatory bird, watching prey from a long way off.
Finger Food
He tells of owning one as a young lad and often having a hole punched in his finger at feeding time from the powerful beak of his benefactor, so if you decide you’d like to capture one, watch that beak!
Long tailed Shrike from Flickr
Give Them Space and Protection and They’ll do the rest
His concern about their survival leads him to ask that people leave space and privacy for them. They like hedgerows and open fields. He states that if we will do that, they will do the rest. They like their privacy, but do not migrate as much as other birds generally do. They usually return to the same area to hunt, and will nest high in the trees of cedar or in thick shrubs 6 to 10 feet off of the ground. A good indication that there is a shrike in your area would be to find stored dinner on barbed wire fences or thorny trees or shrubs.
The Butcherbird has Many Homes
It is a common resident breeder throughout the Indomalayan ecozone from Kazakhstan, through Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indian peninsula except eastern states, to New Guinea, found in areas where shrubs and thick brushes can be found. The bird also visits southern areas such as southeast India and Sri Lanka during the winter months. Other species of this bird were also found in various other countries. If you happen to spot a skewered grasshopper near your home, you may have a Butcherbird nearby.
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36 Responses to “The Deadly Songbird”
On August 17, 2008 at 3:56 am
Very interesting item, Judy.
On August 17, 2008 at 4:33 am
Great piece Judy. Very interesting.
On August 17, 2008 at 6:55 am
What a great article to read Judy..
On August 17, 2008 at 8:41 am
Well researched and well done.
Great article Judy.
On August 17, 2008 at 8:44 am
Louie, RJ, Icy, and Lauren, thanks for your support.
On August 17, 2008 at 9:22 am
really good.. I love it.
On August 17, 2008 at 9:32 am
Dhika, thank you for reading and take care.
On August 17, 2008 at 11:31 am
Two thumbs up!Yeah!
On August 17, 2008 at 11:53 am
I love how you set it all up! Very interesting
What a cute little bird!!
On August 17, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Chan and Alexa, your encouragement is very much appreciated. Thank you!
On August 17, 2008 at 7:54 pm
Ohhhhhhh, I didn’t know anything about this bird. Well, I guess everything has to eat. My grandson used to feed his snake live mice.
On August 17, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Ruby, we don’t usually care much for mice, so don’t mind seeing them sacrificed for a meal. It kind of saddens me to think about a mother bird getting killed though.
Thanks for reading and commenting. Take care.
On August 17, 2008 at 9:25 pm
Very good article, who would have thought such a cute bird could be so deadly.
On August 17, 2008 at 9:36 pm
..Hi Judy, This is so well done,
and the picture are so alive. Good
job. Take it easy.
On August 17, 2008 at 11:31 pm
very nice article indeed,small but terrible,thanks Judy
On August 18, 2008 at 4:10 am
Very interesting.
On August 18, 2008 at 10:40 am
The beginning of your article drew me right in and then I couldn’t stop reading. Great job!
On August 18, 2008 at 1:41 pm
I have seen a Butcher Bird before but I did not know that they were carnavores. Pound for pound, they must be one of the most deadly hunters.
On August 18, 2008 at 9:01 pm
Karen, Quiet Voice, Nobert, Valli, Sandra, and Chris thank you so much for your encouragement and support. Chris, there are some Youtubes on them, but I forgot to include one. They show the different voices that they can imitate. They are pretty crafty hunters.
Take care & God bless
On August 18, 2008 at 11:20 pm
Very well written, Judy. Once I started reading there was no turning away until the end.
Very well researched.
On August 19, 2008 at 7:59 am
Darlene, thank you for reading and supporting.
Take care & God bless.
On August 19, 2008 at 10:25 am
Oh my! and they looked so innocent.
On August 19, 2008 at 8:31 pm
Anne, looks can be deceiving. Thanks for reading and commenting.
Take care & God bless.
On August 22, 2008 at 10:57 am
What a great article. Thanks for sharing…
On August 22, 2008 at 5:28 pm
Johaubannah, thanks for your kind words.
Take care.
On August 23, 2008 at 10:36 am
What a great and interesting read. I learned something new today,. thankyou
On August 23, 2008 at 8:28 pm
Jessica, so did I. I loved researching for this. It was fascinating. Thank you for reading and take care.
On August 27, 2008 at 1:49 am
amazing….i like it…
On August 27, 2008 at 1:50 am
amazing….i like it…
On August 27, 2008 at 7:50 am
Swapna, thanks for the encouragement.
Take care & have a blessed day.
On September 1, 2008 at 11:54 am
That is the creepiest bird ever!! Who would think that such a pretty little thing could be so…well, creepy?!! LOL Very good article Mama Judy.
On September 1, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Stacey, thanks for your support. Kiss the babies, and yes, you are right – creepy.
Take care & God bless.
On November 19, 2008 at 9:07 pm
i have a baby butcher bird at home and was wondering what to feed it, i can’t believe they are carnavors
On November 20, 2008 at 7:41 pm
Jacinta, just don’t give it a chance at your fingers. lol
Thanks for reading, and take care.
On March 29, 2009 at 7:12 am
Hmmm
On March 29, 2009 at 7:18 am
I was told that a baby belong to me, but I did a DNA test and it said that the young man is not minds. Thanks Mrs Mohon, Esp, wade, never again.
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