How to Identify a Northern Shrike

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What Does a Northern Shrike Look Like?

“This bird (above) knocked itself out on my window. What is it?” asks Birds & Blooms reader Gary Wyrick of Scottville, Michigan.

Birding experts Kenn and Kimberly Kaufman say, “That’s an unusual ﬁnd! It’s a northern shrike—a bird that spends the summer in northern Canada and Alaska, appearing in Michigan only as a scarce winter visitor, and not usually seen close to houses. If you look closely at the photo, you can see a hooked tip on the bill.

Shrikes are predatory songbirds, and sometimes they catch and eat small birds such as sparrows. It’s possible that this northern shrike was chasing some other bird and not watching where it was going when it ran into your window.”

The northern shrike is a truly intriguing bird. It’s no larger than an American robin, but, since it dines on other birds and small mammals, it has more in common with a hawk or falcon than most birds of a similar size.

To quickly identify a northern shrike, good traits to look for are a hooked beak and a narrow stripe of black near its eye. Keep an eye out for a white and gray-barred breast and black bars along the ends of the bird’s wings, which contrast with its gray back and head.

Males and females resemble each other, while juveniles feature slightly dilute plumage. While loggerhead shrikes and northern shrikes resemble each other, loggerhead shrikes have a white breast and a thicker black eye stripe.

Range and Habitat

These stunning shrikes visit the northern United States during wintertime after spending breeding season in upper Canada and Alaska. Birders can find them in much of the Pacific Northwest and Midwest.

Northern shrikes prefer semi-open woodlands with areas where they can look out to locate prey. These birds aren’t likely to hide from you: many sit on exposed perches such as telephone pole wires, or at the tops of trees, where they wait to catch their next meal.

Diet: What Do Northern Shrikes Eat?

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the northern shrike is its diet. While it’s not physically imposing, it uses its hooked beak and a variety of quick-thinking tactics and strong feet to catch songbirds, small mammals, and insects. After it’s killed its prey, this bird will often cache prey by impaling it on a spike or wire. This habit earned its species the unflattering nickname of “butcher bird.”

Kenn and Kimberly say, “Across most of their range, shrikes are rare visitors to feeders. So why would one be there? Shrikes are predatory songbirds, making meals of rodents, large insects and even small birds. During severe weather, small birds at feeders present the potential for an easy meal. We hope this doesn’t diminish your excitement over your special visitor. It’s hard sometimes, but we have to accept that our feeders can become part of the circle of life. When we do, we learn to appreciate all the birds that visit—no matter what their motivation.”

Nesting Habits

Shrikes nest in the far north. Females build a nest in a tree or shrub, usually up to 8 feet off the ground. Raising one brood in a season, a shrike’s typical egg clutch consists of four to nine eggs. Young leave the nest approximately three weeks after hatching.

Songs and Calls

While both male and female northern shrikes are songsters, you’re most likely to hear them sing on their breeding grounds. Listen for the male especially in late winter and early spring.

When singing, they typically emit a series of complex warbles and whistles, along with gargles or screeches. Harsh calls serve to warn other shrikes of danger.

Sources

Cornell Lab of Ornithology, “Northern Shrike: Life History“
Audubon Field Guide, “Northern Shrike“

About the Experts

Kenn and Kimberly Kaufman are the official bird experts for Birds & Blooms. They are the creators of the Kaufman Field Guide series and they lead birding trips all over the world.