{"id":51818,"date":"2018-04-25T05:11:20","date_gmt":"2018-04-25T11:11:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=51818"},"modified":"2024-08-15T03:33:16","modified_gmt":"2024-08-15T08:33:16","slug":"loggerhead-shrike-allofeeding-courtship-behavior-plus-a-close-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/04\/25\/loggerhead-shrike-allofeeding-courtship-behavior-plus-a-close-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Loggerhead Shrike Allofeeding Courtship Behavior Plus a Close Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AdultAdult Loggerhead Shrike perched on a boulder – Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/2500, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Keen eyes, being in the right place at the right time and a touch of serendipity can make a morning out looking for birds to photograph go from good to great in no time at all. Yesterday while being chewed up by the no-see-ums on Antelope Island State Park<\/span><\/a> and finding some birds to photograph the last birds I found and took images of were undoubtedly the ones I had the most fun with.<\/p>\n

I spotted a Loggerhead Shrike on a boulder and took a few images of it then moved on to photograph a few dead California Gulls in the same area. The California Gulls may have succumbed to botulism which isn’t uncommon at this time of the year. The gulls may have fed on some Eared Grebes that may have died from botulism. (Park personnel were notified of the deceased gulls).<\/p>\n

While I was photographing one of those gulls I heard a distinct call, looked up and spotted a Loggerhead Shrike perched on a nearby rabbitbrush so I slowly moved in that direction.<\/p>\n

\"PresumedPresumed male Loggerhead Shrike allofeeding the female – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/2000, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

After I started photographing the lone Loggerhead Shrike on the rabbitbrush out of the corner of my left eye I caught sight of another shrike to the west perched on a sunflower stalk and I hoped that it would fly in to perch next to the one on the rabbitbrush.<\/p>\n

The Loggerhead Shrike did fly in and brought prey to feed the presumed female, during the mating season the males will allofeed the females as part of their courtship behavior. I’ve never been able to photograph allofeeding behavior before so I was tickled pink. Sure, I could wish I could see both eyes of the shrikes, I could wish that I had a catch light in the bird’s eye that we can see but the images I got delighted me even though I didn’t.<\/p>\n

\"PresumedPresumed female Loggerhead Shrike close up – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1250, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The presumed male Loggerhead Shrike left and the presumed female flew down to the ground so close to where I sat in the “mobile blind” that all I could do was take head shots of her.<\/p>\n

\"LoggerheadLoggerhead Shrike perched on Rabbitbrush in a breeze – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1600, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Then she flew back to perch on top of another rabbitbrush and looked around while the breeze buffeted against her. I photographed her until she too flew off.<\/p>\n

I’ve got bumps on my scalp from where the nasty no-see-ums bit me up but I have a smile on my face from photographing the interesting courtship behavior of these two Loggerhead Shrikes.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/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":"

The Loggerhead Shrike did fly in and brought prey to feed the presumed female, during the mating season the males will allofeed the females as part of their courtship behavior. I’ve never been able to photograph allofeeding behavior before so I was tickled pink. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":132448,"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":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[511,27,1022,247,26],"tags":[4004,6465,4226,4138,5460,4142,3535,4070,4171,4066,4062,4347,4104,4289,3906,3907],"class_list":["post-51818","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-utah","tag-adult","tag-allofeeding","tag-behavior","tag-boulder","tag-breeze","tag-close-up","tag-courtship-behavior","tag-female","tag-lanius-ludovicianus","tag-loggerhead-shrike","tag-male","tag-mating-behavior","tag-perched","tag-rabbitbrush","tag-shrike","tag-shrikes"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/loggerhead-shrikes-allofeeding-mia-mcpherson-4288.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-dtM","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":51818,"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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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":26734,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/07\/17\/a-juvenile-loggerhead-shrike-on-a-tintic-quartzite-boulder\/","url_meta":{"origin":51818,"position":2},"title":"Juvenile Loggerhead Shrike on a Tintic Quartzite Boulder","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 17, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Antelope Island State Park is full of juvenile Loggerhead Shrikes right now so it looks like the shrikes had a very successful nesting season.","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 on a Tintic Quartzite Boulder, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/loggerhead-shrike-juvenile-boulder-mia-mcpherson-4502.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-boulder-mia-mcpherson-4502.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/loggerhead-shrike-juvenile-boulder-mia-mcpherson-4502.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/loggerhead-shrike-juvenile-boulder-mia-mcpherson-4502.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4707,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/04\/01\/loggerhead-shrike-perched-on-moth-mullein\/","url_meta":{"origin":51818,"position":3},"title":"Loggerhead Shrike Perched On Wand Mullein","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 1, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been seeing more and more Loggerhead Shrikes (Lanius ludovicianus) pairing up the past week or so which means it won't be long before they are on their nests.","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 perched on a Moth Mullein, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/loggerhead-shrike-mullein-mia-mcpherson-9746.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-mullein-mia-mcpherson-9746.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/loggerhead-shrike-mullein-mia-mcpherson-9746.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/loggerhead-shrike-mullein-mia-mcpherson-9746.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":51818,"position":4},"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, 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McPherson","date":"March 10, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week I wrote that I was looking forward to the birds that arrive here in the spring and yesterday I was able to photograph some of the Loggerhead Shrikes that I mentioned.","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 in early spring, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/loggerhead-shrike-mia-mcpherson-8978.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-mia-mcpherson-8978.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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