{"id":15006,"date":"2014-05-20T12:15:19","date_gmt":"2014-05-20T18:15:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=15006"},"modified":"2026-01-31T08:20:33","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T14:20:33","slug":"loggerhead-shrikes-and-a-few-things-that-bug-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/05\/20\/loggerhead-shrikes-and-a-few-things-that-bug-them\/","title":{"rendered":"Loggerhead Shrikes And A Few Things That Bug Them"},"content":{"rendered":"

This morning while I was on Antelope Island<\/span><\/a> I found a Loggerhead Shrike perched on a dead branch that was near the north shoreline of the Great Salt Lake. There were thousands of midges in the area, some in front of the shrike, some behind and some very close to the bird.<\/p>\n

\"LoggerheadLoggerhead Shrike with its eyes closed<\/span><\/p>\n

This shrike kept closing its eyes and I wonder if that was because the midges were bothering it.<\/p>\n

Warning: Buggy images ahead but informative ones!<\/p>\n

\"LoggerheadLoggerhead Shrike surrounded by midges<\/span><\/p>\n

This photo shows the midges all around the Loggerhead Shrike. We call them “bugnados” because the midges seem to form\u00a0funnels of flying bugs. These midges do NOT bite but they do tickle if they land on you. When there are thousands of them you can hear a slight hum but it is nothing like hearing that one annoying mosquito that won’t stop buzzing your head when you are trying to fall asleep.<\/p>\n

\"OneOne adult Loggerhead Shrike bringing in prey to another<\/span><\/p>\n

All of a sudden I saw another Loggerhead Shrike fly in with prey in its bill and it passed it off to the other shrike. It is difficult to tell what the prey is exactly, it might be the pupae of something or it might be a moth with its wings torn off. The shrike that took the prey dove down into the bush so I suspect that these two adults are feeding fledglings.<\/p>\n

The Loggerhead Shrike on the right is banded and it was probably banded last year by a group of researchers from Great Salt Lake Institute<\/span><\/a> (GSLI) out of Westminster College who have been banding shrikes and other birds that eat the spiders on the island to study mercury uptake levels.<\/p>\n

\"PairPair of Loggerhead Shrikes in a cloud of midges<\/span><\/p>\n

Here is an image of both adult Loggerhead Shrikes that shows more of the cloud of midges that surrounded them. I suspect that the midges are not prey for the shrikes because they are so small compared to other prey that shrikes take.<\/p>\n

\"SwarmSwarm of Midges<\/span><\/p>\n

I tried several times to get images of the flying midges with the majority of them in focus and this photo does that fairly well. Midges are prey for shorebirds, song birds and some grebes and we sure have plenty of midges along the Great Salt Lake and the marshes that surround it.<\/p>\n

Just another wonderful day in my neighborhood!<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

All images were taken with my Nikon D300 with the Nikkor 200-400mm VR and 1.4x TC attached.<\/span><\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to view more of my Loggerhead Shrike photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This morning while Antelope Island there was a Loggerhead Shrike perched on a dead branch that was near the north shoreline of the Great Salt Lake. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":167886,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[511,27,1022,247,5736,26],"tags":[4004,4943,781,11978,4005,4171,4066,11045,4365,540,3909,4106,3906,3907,165,2315],"class_list":["post-15006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-loggerhead-shrikes","category-midges","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-bug","tag-chironomidae","tag-desert-island","tag-great-salt-lake","tag-lanius-ludovicianus","tag-loggerhead-shrike","tag-loggerhead-shrikes","tag-midge","tag-midges","tag-moth","tag-prey","tag-shrike","tag-shrikes","tag-spring","tag-summer-3"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/loggerhead-shrikes-prey-mia-mcpherson-7091.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-3U2","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":109638,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/01\/16\/winter-loggerhead-shrike\/","url_meta":{"origin":15006,"position":0},"title":"Winter Loggerhead Shrike: A Species In Decline","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 16, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Due to extended gray, cloudy weather and not getting out into the field I dug into my archives and today I am sharing a photo of a winter Loggerhead Shrike.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Loggerhead Shrike in winter, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/loggerhead-shrike-winter-mia-mcpherson-9820.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/loggerhead-shrike-winter-mia-mcpherson-9820.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/loggerhead-shrike-winter-mia-mcpherson-9820.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/loggerhead-shrike-winter-mia-mcpherson-9820.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":101743,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/04\/23\/loggerhead-shrike-population-decline-concerns\/","url_meta":{"origin":15006,"position":1},"title":"Loggerhead Shrike Population Decline Concerns","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 23, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"About two weeks ago I found an adult Loggerhead Shrike perched on a lichen covered rock in northern Utah a good distance from the road that I was on.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Loggerhead Shrike perched on a lichen 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Juvenile","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 7, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"From all appearances it has been a great nesting season for the Loggerhead Shrikes on Antelope Island State Park, it seems everywhere I look there are numerous juvenile Shrikes perched on bushes near rather harried looking adults.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Loggerhead Shrike perched on Greasewood, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/loggerhead-shrike-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-2743.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/loggerhead-shrike-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-2743.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/loggerhead-shrike-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-2743.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/loggerhead-shrike-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-2743.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8930,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/07\/17\/ever-been-mobbed-by-loggerhead-shrike-juveniles\/","url_meta":{"origin":15006,"position":3},"title":"Ever Been Mobbed By Loggerhead Shrike Juveniles?","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Yes, I was mobbed by Loggerhead Shrikes and I didn't mind a bit because it afforded me the opportunity to observe and photograph them up close and it was fascinating!","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fledgling Loggerhead Shrike portrait, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/loggerhead-shrike-fledgling-close-up-mia-mcpherson-5385.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/loggerhead-shrike-fledgling-close-up-mia-mcpherson-5385.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Perched adult Loggerhead Shrike and clear sky, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/loggerhead-shrike-adult-mia-mcpherson-4003.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/loggerhead-shrike-adult-mia-mcpherson-4003.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/loggerhead-shrike-adult-mia-mcpherson-4003.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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