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Class Aves
Order Passeriformes
Family Laniidae

Laniidae—Shrikes

Two species of shrikes occur now in the region, but only the Loggerhead Shrike is common.

Lanius excubitor Linnaeus 1758—Great Gray Shrike

Sites.

Mid Wisconsin-Holocene: Stanton's Cave (Rea and Hargrave 1984).

Literature. Rea and Hargrave 1984.

Lanius ludovicianus Linnaeus 1766—Loggerhead Shrike

Loggerhead Shrikes are unique among our passeriformes in impaling their prey on thorns or other sharp projections. The prey may include vertebrate as well as invertebrate animals.

Fig. 1. Loggerhead Shrike. Painting by Louis Agassiz Fuertes. After Henshaw (1921).

Fig. 2. A horned lizard impaled on the sharp end of a yucca leaf by a Loggerhead Shrike.

Sites.

Mid Wisconsin-Holocene: Shelter Cave (Howard and Miller 1933).

Late Wisconsin: Harris' Pocket (Harris 1989).

Literature. Harris 1989; Howard and Miller 1933.

Last Update: 7 Feb 2013