{"id":1741,"date":"2011-01-02T19:54:42","date_gmt":"2011-01-03T01:54:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=1741"},"modified":"2026-01-30T11:39:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T17:39:09","slug":"northern-loggerhead-shrikes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/01\/02\/northern-loggerhead-shrikes\/","title":{"rendered":"Northern & Loggerhead Shrikes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"NorthernImmature Northern Shrike on a cold Utah Day – D200, f8, 1\/1250, ISO 400, 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Today was a good day, I finally took some images of a Northern Shrike that weren’t taken from too far away. This Northern Shrike has been hanging out for a couple of weeks at one of my favorite locations close to home but it has never allowed this close of an approach.<\/p>\n

There are two species of shrikes in North America, the Northern Shrikes are paler, have longer bills and are larger bodied than the Loggerhead Shrikes. The immature and 1st winter Northern Shrikes have “scaled” chests and brownish underparts, a white orbital ring and a narrow mask. I believe this is a 1st winter bird. The adults have gray-white underparts, a white throat and the barring is less noticeable.<\/p>\n

I was thrilled to get this close to the shrike. I do not see this species in the warmer months of the year because it breeds in sub-Arctic forests across Alaska and Canada.<\/p>\n

\"JuvenileImmature Loggerhead Shrike – D200, f5.6, 1\/2000, ISO 500, 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This immature Loggerhead Shrike is smaller than the Northern Shrike, the bill is shorter, the mask is wider and it does not have the white orbital ring that immature Northern Shrikes do. They do have some fine barring on their chests but it is not as pronounced as the scaling is on immature Northern Shrikes.<\/p>\n

This immature Loggerhead Shrike was on oolitic sand, found in areas like the Great Salt Lake<\/span><\/a> near where this image was taken.<\/p>\n

I’m fascinated by both species of shrikes who are also known as “Butcher Birds”\u00a0 because they often impale their prey on thorns or barbed wire. I’ve witnessed the impaling action of the loggerheads but have yet to see a Northern Shrike impale their prey.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Today was a good day, I finally took some images of a Northern Shrike (Lanius excubitor) that weren’t taken from too far away. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":108315,"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":[511,163,27,697,247,403],"tags":[405,4004,215,10598,3981,4067,1065,4171,4066,2422,3906,3907,373,4193],"class_list":["post-1741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-bird-identification","category-avian","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-loggerhead-shrikes","category-northern-shrike","tag-1st-winter","tag-adult","tag-bird-id","tag-butcher-birds","tag-davis-county","tag-immature","tag-lanius-borealis","tag-lanius-ludovicianus","tag-loggerhead-shrike","tag-northern-shrike","tag-shrike","tag-shrikes","tag-winter","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/northern-shrike-utah-mia-mcpherson-0402.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-s5","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":101743,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/04\/23\/loggerhead-shrike-population-decline-concerns\/","url_meta":{"origin":1741,"position":0},"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 covered rock, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/loggerhead-shrike-adult-lichen-rocks-mia-mcpherson-6340.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/loggerhead-shrike-adult-lichen-rocks-mia-mcpherson-6340.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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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":16965,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/11\/13\/it-is-time-to-look-for-northern-shrikes\/","url_meta":{"origin":1741,"position":2},"title":"Time to look for Northern Shrikes","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 13, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I write about the raptors I expect to see during the winter in Utah but there are also song birds I keep an eye out for too like this immature Northern Shrike.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Northern Shrike at Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/northern-shrike-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-0394.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/northern-shrike-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-0394.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/northern-shrike-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-0394.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/loggerhead-shrike-fluffed-mia-mcpherson-9917.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-fluffed-mia-mcpherson-9917.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/loggerhead-shrike-fluffed-mia-mcpherson-9917.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/loggerhead-shrike-fluffed-mia-mcpherson-9917.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":108302,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/11\/26\/immature-northern-shrike-jackpot\/","url_meta":{"origin":1741,"position":4},"title":"Immature Northern Shrike Jackpot!","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 26, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I felt like I had hit a jackpot yesterday when I found an immature Northern Shrike perched on a Common Mullein at Farmington Bay WMA.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Northern Shrike on Common Mullein, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/northern-shrike-immature-mullein-mia-mcpherson-4938.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/northern-shrike-immature-mullein-mia-mcpherson-4938.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/northern-shrike-immature-mullein-mia-mcpherson-4938.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/northern-shrike-immature-mullein-mia-mcpherson-4938.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":36900,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/03\/08\/two-loggerhead-shrike-juveniles-on-a-log\/","url_meta":{"origin":1741,"position":5},"title":"Two Loggerhead Shrike Juveniles On A Log","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 8, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"These two Loggerhead Shrike juveniles on a log were photographed last August on Antelope Island and were probably from a second brood.","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":"Loggerhead Shrike juveniles on a log on Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, 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