Swallow-tailed Shrike
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Swallow-tailed Shrike,
Lanius bifurcatus L 34-38 cm, WS 30-33
cm, Family: Laniidae
IUCN Conservation Status: Near threatened (NT)
Description:
Medium-sized
songbird with a large head, heavy, hooked bill, and extremely long, forked
tail. Gray upperparts and whitish undersides with faint brown barring. Tail and
wings black with white linings; obvious black mask around eyes and a brownish
wash on the forehead. Similar to other shrikes, like the closely related
Northern Shrike, but the long, forked tail is diagnostic. Males and females
similar, but tail is longer in males. Juveniles brown overall with stronger
barring, no dark mask, and short tail.
Voice:
Both
males and females sing two song types. The first is a courtship “spring” song,
which varies between individual but is usually composed of a series of disjunct
phrases, often clear, sharp whistles, trills, and warbles, and harsher gargles
and raspy chattering. A second song type is sung year-round as a territorial
defense, usually a series of repeated simple notes or phrases, often much
hoarser than spring song. Various calls include trills, scolds, and any
singular phrase heard in the song may be uttered alone as a call. Females will
click their bills when agitated.
Range and Habitat:
Common
in the interior prairie but can also be found in the Twin River Valley and on
East Francis Island. Shrikes prefer brushy, open habitats like grassland, scrub,
oak savannah, chapparal, dry juniper, and post-burn sites, and agricultural
fields. Though most common in scrub, chaparral, and grasslands, and they prefer
areas with thorny vegetation, but they may also be found in sparse forests and forest
edges. Frequently seen perched on power lines and fences, human agriculture and
forest clearing has allowed their range to expand.
Discussion:
The
Swallow-tailed Shrike is a somewhat uncommon, but instantly recognizable,
species native to Novasola’s prairie and scrubland. Its most obvious feature,
the tail for which it earns its name, creates an unmistakable silhouette and
contrasts its jet-black against the faded gray-greens of the steppe. Despite
its stature, the Shrike is a formidable predator, hunting small mammals, birds,
and insects with impressive skill and, with the help of its fiercely hooked
bill, dispatching its prey in a notoriously grizzly fashion.
Unlike
most songbirds, the Swallow-tailed Shrike is entirely carnivorous. In the
spring and summer shrikes eat insects, arthropods, small birds and bird eggs.
When the weather cools and insects start to disappear, shrikes eat small
mammals like mice and voles, lizards, small snakes, and birds. Shrikes often
take down prey larger than themselves, in extreme cases even including ground
squirrels and rat snakes. They often find prominent perches from which they
burst into flight when they spot potential prey. They may fly low over the
vegetation and occasionally hover in place while searching for food as well. At
other times, they will hide in dense vegetation and wait to ambush prey or
flush them into the open. Occasionally, they have been observed mimicking the
wounded cries of other songbirds like sparrows to attract others in ambush. Once
they have seized their prey, they use their sharp, hooked bill to finish it
off. Like other members of the genus, Swallow-tailed Shrikes are notorious for
their food caching behavior; shrikes will store food and carcasses for later by
impaling them onto large thorns, sharp twigs, or wedge them into the forks of
branches. They may also store prey in this manner while eating them to secure
the food in place as they pick it apart. When eating wasps or scorpions,
shrikes will intentionally remove the stingers first. Indeed, it may be
possible to find shrike territories by first finding these impaled carcasses.
It is from this gruesome behavior that shrikes get their nickname “butcher
birds” and why they are infamous birds.
Despite
the seeming brutality of their foraging style, Swallow-tailed Shrikes can be
surprisingly beautiful. Both males and females sing, and during courtship they
engage in elaborate display flights wherein they spread their tail feathers and
take fast dives and spiraling flights. Females build nests using materials
brought to her by the male. The shrike’s apparent aggression extends beyond
hunting though, and they will defend territories with extreme prejudice,
scolding and chasing off any intruder. Males will hunt more often during
courtship and present the female with his kills, as the female does not leave
the nest and relies on him to feed her. When males fail to bring adequate
amounts of food, the female will scold or attack the male. Likewise, males will
occasionally act aggressively toward their mate. Once chicks have fledged, they
usually stay with the parents for a month or so, learning to hunt. Birds often
mate with the same individuals year after year, though this is somewhat
dependent on their nest success from the previous year. Outside of the breeding
season shrikes are mostly solitary, intolerant of other shrikes entering their
territory and fighting newcomers for dominance and to maintain control of the
area.
The
Swallow-tailed Shrike is an infamous bird across Novasola for its violent
character and captivating beauty in flight. Early pioneers and settlers of the
prairie would describe the bird as the savage wilderness made manifest.
Indigenous tribes revere the shrike as a warrior, and their feathers are used
in rituals and adorn war costumes and axes. The Yukandaluk name for the bird is
alixucidaq, meaning “warrior/warlord”.
Found
mostly in Novasola’s arid and open lowlands, Swallow-tailed Shrikes are
infamous little predators, skewering their prey on thorns and barbed wire. Denizens
of prairie and scrubland, the shrike’s distinct silhouette, with its long, bifurcated
tail from which its name derives, are best seen along roadways and fence lines.
Though familiar to many locals, the shrike wasn’t formally described for
science until 1902, after the NRC’s first expedition, by Richard Reichwald.
“The
prowess of the adult is so evident that one could be forgiven for assuming the
shrike is born a natural hunter of expert capacity, but they would soon be
relieved of that opinion upon observing the young. Juvenile shrikes, lacking
inborn talent, must instead practice, learn, and hone their predatory actions.
Once fledged, young birds will pantomime their parents and perform the most
exaggerated of stunts and dramas which inly begin to resemble the hunting
techniques they will one day perfect. They will lunge and peck at all manner of
things from sticks and leaves to their parents and nestmates. They will fly
about with leaves in their beaks and practice acrobatic maneuvers without much
grace. I have watched as juveniles will try and impale stones to blunt branches,
having observed the behavior in adults but not grasped the intricacies of
actual butchery.” – Native Birds of Novasola, 1912
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| Illustration provided by the Museum of Novasola. |