The shrike is a small carnivorous bird with a ferocious nature. It is an important insectivorous bird. Their main feature is that their mouths are large and strong, with a hook and notch at the tip of the upper mouth, slightly resembling an eagle's beak. The wings are short and round, usually in the shape of a convex tail. The feet are strong and the toes are well hooked. It is ferocious in nature and likes to eat small mammals, birds, lizards and other insects as well as other live animals. Most of them live in hilly and open woodlands. . The nest is cup-shaped and placed among thorny trees or shrubs. The eggs often have slightly dark brown spots of varying sizes.

Species Characteristics

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The Shrike family (scientific name Laniidae) is a family in the order Passeriformes in the order Birds in the traditional classification system of birds. This is a small carnivorous bird with a ferocious nature.

2 Living habits

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Shrike birds have a ferocious temperament and are known as "raptors among birds". They often stand at a high place and look down, waiting for opportunities to move, catching insects, frogs, lizards, small birds and mice, etc. Some even insert the corpses on the thorns to tear them apart. Habit, sometimes not eating all of it, and storing food in this way. Therefore, they are also called "butcher birds" in English, but the Australian butcherbirds are not shrikes, but a bird of the genus Cracticus that occupies the same ecological niche as them.

The shrike was called "Zhao" in ancient times.

The shrike is an important insectivorous bird. Their main feature is that their mouths are large and strong, with a hook and notch at the tip of the upper mouth, slightly resembling an eagle's beak. The wings are short and round, usually in the shape of a convex tail. The feet are strong and the toes are well hooked. It is ferocious in nature and likes to eat small mammals, birds, lizards and other insects as well as other live animals. Most of them live in hilly and open woodlands. It often perches on the top of trees, hunts on the ground, and returns to the branches after catching; it often hangs its prey on thorny trees, and with the help of thorns, kills it, tears it into pieces, and eats it, so some people call it It is a butcher bird. The nest is cup-shaped and placed among thorny trees or shrubs. The eggs often have slightly dark brown spots of varying sizes. Most of them are migratory birds in our country.

The shrike is smaller than the robin. Its feathers are usually gray or light brown, its wings and tail are black with white spots, and there is a clear black ring around its eyes. Shrikes in Europe are mostly red and brown; the great shrike in Canada and the United States is also called the northern shrike, which is the most widely distributed type of shrike; from Africa, there are about 40 species of shrike. The body length is about 16 to 21 cm. The feathers are brightly colored, the beak is not as sharp as other shrikes, and the tail has long, soft feathers. The four-color bush shrike has green upper parts and golden lower parts. The red throat and black edges are very nice.

The bush shrike makes a living by catching insects, often shooting in the bushes to ambush; the shrike is hatched by the female bird, and it is born in about two weeks. After birth, the female and male birds mate together After feeding, the young birds can leave the nest and stand on their own after twelve days, but they will sometimes come back to ask their parents for some food. The shrike also has a strong maternal instinct. When an animal such as a snake wants to attack its nest, the shrike will desperately protect its young and fight back. Since the living environment of shrikes is open grasslands and pastures, with the expansion of human cities and mechanized farming of pastures, the living environment of shrikes is getting smaller and smaller, which has also led to the decrease in the number of shrikes year by year. We can see The chances for this strong, individual bird are getting smaller and smaller.

Shrike (6 photos)

Reproduction

The female bird incubates the shrike eggs, which take about two weeks to be born. The birds are fed together, and the young birds can leave the nest and stand on their own after twelve days, but they sometimes come back to ask their parents for some food. The shrike also has a strong maternal instinct. When an animal such as a snake wants to attack its nest, the shrike will desperately protect its young and fight back.

Since the shrike’s living environment is open grassland and pasture, with the expansion of human cities and mechanized farming of pastures, the living environment of the shrike is getting smaller and smaller, which has also led to the decline of the shrike population. With each passing year our chances of seeing this strong, individual bird become less and less frequent.

Attention should be paid to the details of feeding

The brown-backed shrike is an insectivorous bird and can be fed with red-spotted chin (i.e. mung bean flour, corn flour, cooked egg yolk, freshwater fish meal or silkworm chrysalis meal) according to 5: 2; mix the ratio of 2:1) to feed the young birds, but they do not grow well and do not like to sing. If they are supplemented with fresh fat-free beef and mutton, they can quickly improve. In addition, the feed flour (bean flour, corn flour) should be as fine as possible, because the thick dregs will be kneaded into balls in the shrike's stomach and spit out, which has the effect of "scraping oil" and making the bird gradually lose weight. Because shrike do not have the ability to digest cellulose, it is best to include fresh meat in the feed.

Shrike are ferocious and have sharp beak hooks. Be careful when luring them with meat in the early stages and when catching them daily to avoid being bitten. In the early days of raising on a shelf, the birds are not used to it, always want to fly away, and are prone to hanging. Usually, they are raised on a straight frame first, and then switched to a bow frame after the birds get used to living on the frame. The method is to tie a 30 cm long line around the bird's neck, hold the other end in your hand or place it next to it to watch. As soon as the bird flies down, use the neck line to lift it to a vertical frame and lure it with fresh meat. Generally, within 1-2 days, the bird will no longer run away desperately, but will circle around the neck line, landing accurately on the vertical frame every time. Then the neck line can be shortened. Only when a bird 1/2 the length of the bow frame can roost stably can it be raised with a bow frame. If you want to take chicks out of the nest and raise them on the island, you should wait until the down feathers of the young birds have been replaced by full feathers. It is best when the young birds are about to leave the nest. This will not only save trouble in feeding, but also allow the birds to grow and develop well. When taking it out, you should pay attention to whether there are external parasites. If there are any, they should be removed in time, otherwise the bird will not grow well. The chicks can mix half and half of the chin powder and fresh minced meat with warm boiled water to form a dough, twist it into food pellets with two pointed ends and feed them 5 to 6 times a day. The proportion of meat should be slightly larger at night, and the amount should be sufficient. . According to the characteristics of shrike's habitat in the wild, the bird stand should be hung at a high place indoors. Because shrike eat more soft food and have loose feces, special attention should be paid to food and water hygiene in daily management. Feed once in the morning and once in the afternoon, that is, after "recognizing" dry powder, feed wet food once a day, preferably with some fresh meat. Live insects and larvae can be fed by hand. In addition, shrike are afraid of cold and should be raised indoors in winter. The room temperature should be above 10°C. Shrikes can also be raised in thrush cages and starling cages for large species. But it's not as distinctive as the stand. Most species of the Shrike family are carnivorous birds, and the proportion of fresh meat when raised should be greater than the proportion of meat in the Red-tailed Shrike's feed. You can even feed live birds and let them tear them up. Of course, all shrike species cannot be housed in cages with other small birds.

Distribution of 3 total groups

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The shrike is an endangered species found on San Clemente Island in the United States; the shrike found on Uluguru Mountain in Tanzania The Uluguru bush shrike is also in danger of extinction. There are red-tailed shrike, brown-backed shrike, red-headed shrike and tiger-striped shrike in Taiwan. Common species

The most common species are red-tailed shrike, tiger-striped shrike, brown-backed shrike, and gray shrike.

4 Common species characteristics

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Tiger Shrike (Laniustigrinus) is very similar to the former. The back, waist, shoulders and tail feathers are all brown-red. The difference is On the top of the head

Tiger Shrike

The upper back is pure slate gray; the back, waist and shoulder feathers are mixed with wavy black thin horizontal spots; the tail feathers also have dark brown horizontal spots. Its habits are similar to those of the red-tailed shrike. It is widely distributed in densely wooded areas such as plains, hills, and valleys, but is more numerous in mountainous areas. It is also ferocious in nature and not only hunts insects for food, but also attacks small birds and rats. Most of the food is pests, such as bumblebees, locusts, pine caterpillars, flies and various insects. Distributed throughout the country. This shrike, like the red-tailed shrike, feeds primarily on insects, and most of the time is entirely insectivorous. The insects it eats, except for a few beneficial insects, are all agricultural and forestry pests; although it also eats some other animals, which are either beneficial or harmful, the quantities they eat are obviously limited and insignificant and should be protected.

The gray shrike (L.excubitor) is a large-scale shrike common in northern my country. Its body size is similar to that of the brown-backed shrike. The whole body

The gray shrike

Mainly gray-brown, with black wings and tail, and bright white outer feathers on the tail, it is easy to identify. It does not breed in my country, but migrates along the northern provinces of my country in spring and autumn, and a few individuals overwinter in my country. It has a ferocious personality and is good at hunting rats, lizards and small birds.

In areas such as Inner Mongolia, northwest and northeastern my country, we often encounter a large gray shrike that nests and breeds locally. Although the body color is similar to the gray shrike, it is larger in size, especially with significantly long tail feathers. This The species of shrike is called the wedge-tailed shrike or the long-tailed gray shrike (L. sphenocercus).

Brown-backed Shrike

Brown-backed Shrike

(Laniusschach) is the larger species of shrike. The body length is about 240 mm. The main characteristics are that the head to the upper back is gray, gradually turning brown towards the back; the rest of the upper body is reddish brown; both wings and tail are black, and most of the lower body is white. It is a common shrike in southern my country. It inhabits open plains and low mountains, often moving among fields, orchards and trees. It is ferocious in nature, with strong beak and claws. It is good at hunting insects, birds and other animals, and can even kill birds larger than itself, such as partridges. Usually, they often perch on the tops of reeds, looking east and west. When they see food on the ground, they go straight down to hunt. It can also catch flying insects and birds in the air. It often raises its head and tail when singing, which is vigorous and powerful, and can imitate its bird's song. Breeds between April and July. The nest is cup-shaped and made of grass stems, bamboo leaves, twigs, fern leaves and other debris. Each clutch lays 5 yellow-white eggs, with gray-blue and lilac-gray spots of varying density, shades and sizes, and dotted with rust-red or even reddish-brown fine spots. In the past, most people thought that the brown-backed shrike specialized in feeding on other birds and was therefore regarded as a pest. Research results have shown that it mainly preys on insects, such as locusts, walking insects, black bees, etc., and also eats some wild fruits. The small birds killed account for a very small proportion of the food they eat, so they are very beneficial to agriculture and forestry. It is found throughout the southern provinces of my country and is a resident bird.

5 Related Species

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Gray Shrike

Southern Gray Shrike

Brown-backed Shrike

Red-headed Shrike

Red-tailed Shrike

Tiger-striped Shrike

Grey-backed Shrike

6 Allusions

It is said that during the reign of King Xuan of Zhou Dynasty, Yin Jifu, a virtuous minister, listened to his stepmother's greedy words and accidentally killed his beloved son Birch left by his ex-wife. Birch's younger brother Bo Feng mourned his brother's misfortune and made a He wrote a sad poem. After hearing it, Yin Jifu regretted it very much and was filled with grief. One day, Yin Jifu saw a bird he had never seen before in the countryside. It sat on a mulberry tree and chirped to him. He said: "Birch, if you were my son Birch, you would fly over and park on my carriage." As soon as he finished speaking, the bird flew over and parked on the carriage, so Yin Jifu took the bird After returning home, the bird stopped on the well and cried to the house. Yin Jifu pretended to shoot the bird, picked up a bow and arrow and shot his step-brother to comfort Birch. Although the story is close to mythology, the name of the shrike is derived from the word "Birch Laohu".

There is also an allusion to the idiom "The swallows fly apart" which also comes from the shrike. Bird culture has a long history among the people.

Distribution of 7 populations

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Mainly distributed in San Clemente Island in the United States, Uluguru Bush Shrike in Uluguru Mountain in Tanzania, and in my country Taiwan region.