Wolf in sheep's clothing
I have been taking a few picture of this cute looking bird but I did not bother to look up its name. You can imagine my surprise when I found it was from the Shrike family. For those people who are not into weaponries, there is also a missile called Shrike. At that point, I knew that I was looking at a bird with some street cred. (Missiles tend to named after predators like snakes.)
The bird is a long-tailed shrike. The shrike family is also known as the butcher's bird as it is known to impale its prey sometimes half eaten. In the wild, it uses plant thorns to impales its meals. In more build up areas, barbed wire could serve at a pinch.
It is also a vicious predator. Insects, small reptiles, small amphibians, small birds and small mammals are all part of its diet.
Update 1:
There are a few reasons why it impales its prey. Most of its prey are more than a mouthful. By impaling them, the bird does not need to kill its prey before eating. Secondly, it can continue to hunt while waiting for the prey to expire. Lastly, unlike birds of prey like eagles, the talons of the Shrike is pretty frail. This means that the bird cannot eat and hold down its prey at the same time.
The bird is a long-tailed shrike. The shrike family is also known as the butcher's bird as it is known to impale its prey sometimes half eaten. In the wild, it uses plant thorns to impales its meals. In more build up areas, barbed wire could serve at a pinch.
It is also a vicious predator. Insects, small reptiles, small amphibians, small birds and small mammals are all part of its diet.
Update 1:
There are a few reasons why it impales its prey. Most of its prey are more than a mouthful. By impaling them, the bird does not need to kill its prey before eating. Secondly, it can continue to hunt while waiting for the prey to expire. Lastly, unlike birds of prey like eagles, the talons of the Shrike is pretty frail. This means that the bird cannot eat and hold down its prey at the same time.
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