Projects I completed :) London House. Music. Bat houses. BirdWeb. Bird of the Week Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica The Barn Swallow is one of seven species of swallows found in Washington State. (All are insect-eaters and migrate south for the winter.) Contrary to its name, the Barn Swallow used to nest in caves but now generally builds its signature mud nest on a manmade structure. Not a fan of mosquitos? Appreciate Barn Swallows then -- they can consume 850 flying insects a day!
Birding Site of the Week Kent Ponds Puget Trough Officially called "Green River Natural Resources Area," the Kent Ponds offer prime habitat in an area under increasing pressure from development. Loggerhead Shrike - BirdWeb. Hover over to view. Click to enlarge. Lanius ludovicianus Uncommon summer, rare winter east. General Description This medium-sized, gray songbird is the smaller and darker of the two species of shrike in North America.
The Loggerhead Shrike has a gray underside and a darker gray back. Habitat Loggerhead Shrikes are found only in North America. Behavior Loggerhead Shrikes need large territories and thus are found only in low densities. Diet The Loggerhead Shrike is predominantly an insect-eater, especially in the summer when it feeds largely on grasshoppers. Nesting Loggerhead Shrikes nest in dense, thorny trees or shrubs, brush-piles, and even tumbleweeds. Migration Status Loggerhead Shrikes winter primarily in the southern US. Conservation Status The numbers of Loggerhead Shrikes have declined across North America, for reasons that are not well understood. When and Where to Find in Washington Abundance Washington Range Map North American Range Map. Loggerhead Shrike. The bird has a large hooked bill; the head and back are grey and the underparts white.
The wings and tail are black, with white patches on the wings and white on the outer tail feather. The black face mask extends over the eye, unlike that of the similar but slightly larger Northern Shrike. The bird breeds in semi-open areas in southern Ontario, Quebec and the Canadian prairie provinces, south to Mexico. It nests in dense trees and shrubs. The female lays 4 to 8 eggs in a bulky cup made of twigs and grass. There is an increase in average clutch size as latitude increases. The shrike is a permanent resident in the southern part of the range; northern birds migrate further south.
The bird waits on a perch with open lines of sight and swoops down to capture prey. Known in many parts as the "Butcher Bird," it impales its prey on thorns or barbed wire before eating it, because it does not have the talons of the larger birds of prey. Conservation status[edit] Subspecies[edit] References[edit] WhatBird | identify birds | bird identification guide | north america. Bird Identification. Your online guide to birds and bird watching, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Identifying Birds at WildBirds.com.