First nest check of six eggs.
The second example is the cryptic nature of shrikes, which makes them VERY good at hiding their nest site. At one of our sites, a male was seen feeding a female on a nest (a behaviour often seen when the female is incubating eggs). Yet as time passed there were fewer sightings of the shrike pair until a day when no birds were seen. I had thought that the nest might have failed… but on the follow-up visit, the nest was bustling with activity with both adults returning to the nest frequently to feed the newly hatched and hungry nestlings – The Shrike Effect.
My last example (although there are plenty more) is the tricky task of resighting birds with colour bands. For those who are new to the Loggerhead Shrike Recovery Project, shrikes are banded with three colour bands and one federal metal band on their legs following strict protocols. Banding allows us to
identify each bird from afar and monitor them through time. The challenge here is to identify the full band combinations because you need to see both legs of a shrike in good lighting, which is difficult since they often don’t sit still for long. Then once you manage to see the bands you need to make sure the color you are seeing is correct, as some colour bands (like white and light blue) can look very similar – The Shrike Effect.
Throughout my first month, I learned many things while monitoring shrikes, as challenging as it was to find and monitor them, it was also rewarding to see the nestlings successfully leaving the nest. I am grateful to be able to work with this endangered species and help do my part in restoring the eastern loggerhead shrike population.
Below, prime shrike habitat, an open field dotted with red cedar trees.
~ Lakesha Smith, Napanee Shrike Biologist
