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Help develop a Bird ID tool!

Loggerhead Shrike

Lanius ludovicianus ORDER: PASSERIFORMES FAMILY: LANIIDAE

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

A small gray, black, and white bird of open areas, the Loggerhead Shrike hardly appears to be a predator. But it uses its hooked beak to kill insects, lizards, mice, and birds, and then impales them on thorns to hold them while it rips them apart.

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Appearance

Crows and Jays-like
Crows and Jays-like
Typical Voice

Adult Description

  • Medium-sized songbird.
  • Gray back.
  • White throat and whitish chest.
  • Black mask.
  • Large head.
  • Medium-long tail.
  • Stout black bill, with hook at end.
  • Wings black with white patch.
  • Tail black with white outer feathers.

Immature Description

Juvenile similar to adult, but duller gray and with faint bars on chest and back.

Range Map Help

Loggerhead Shrike Range Map
View dynamic map of eBird sightings

Field MarksHelp

Similar Species

Similar Species

  • Northern Shrike is larger, with a larger bill with a pale base to the lower mandible, a narrower black mask that does not extend across the forehead, and usually faint wavy barring on the chest. Immature Northern is brownish.
  • Northern Mockingbird similarly colored, but lacks the black mask and has a narrow, pointed bill.

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    At Loggerheads Over a Shrike: story and photos in Living Bird magazine