Be warned, there are pictures of wild animals being wild animals in this post. I was surprised to see a medium sized bird in with my chickens when I was doing chores. I ususally only see small sparrows or finches in the barn. This one was certainly gaining the attention of my chickens.
It was a bit nervous about being in the back corner with me in the barn, so it flew to the roost.
Then it tried leaving, but wouldn’t fit through the little wire openings.
After sitting and thinking about it for a little while, this plucky little bird decided he wasn’t leaving without what he had come here for…supper.
The northern shrike is a medium-sized song bird, but it is known for feeding on smaller song birds, like this sparrow.
It sat and scolded my chickens as they came near. I’ve never seen such a determined little bird. After sitting for a minute, it took off with the sparrow. It really seemed way more concerned about losing its supper to my chickens than me taking pictures.
It kept working its way towards the door with its prey. All the while, it was scolding my big chickens, who really didn’t want to mess with this feisty little bird.
Finally, it made it out the door, but that wasn’t the last hurdle to have supper.
He still had to make it through the outside fence.
After dumping the sparrow through, the shrike followed.
It was hard work and time to rest again.
By this time, the bird had figured out I wasn’t too scary. I’m not sure it knew I would also protect it from my geese if needed. They’d have no problems with grabbing that sparrow (or the shrike) for a snack.
It was just a short rest, and then it was time to get the sparrow out from beneath him.
Time to take off again!
This time, it really went a ways before stopping again. I did see it was on the south side of the barn, but it was gone with the sparrow before too long.
I’d never seen one of these cute little killer before. I’m very impressed with him. You can read more about the northern shrike HERE, and you can hear that raucous noise he/she made to warn my chickens.
Sharing at Wild Bird Wednesday, Wordless Wednesday at Create With Joy, and Bird d’Pot.
Teresa
Eden Hills 
Brave little dude!
I was very impressed with him mouthing off to those bigger birds.
Awesome photos! A brave bird and I’m impressed he could fly off with the sparrow.
Thanks. It was fascinating to watch.
That was interesting I was well into your story and pictures and learnt something new 🙂
Have a tanfastic rest of weak 😉
Thanks. It was fascinating, and I’d never seen one of these little birds before.
Nice post!
Thanks, Hans.
I had to remove a juvenile red tail hawk from my chicken coop once. I was able to get him/her trapped in a corner long enough to grab it by the legs and once upside down, like so many birds, it was powerless. I took him/her outside and watched it fly off into the distance. It was beautiful. After that I had to figure out how he was getting in! Haven’t had another problem since.
Glad you got rid of the hawk. I don’t think this one could hurt my big hens, but I am going to have chicks in the spring.
Amazing series of Shrike photos. Cool sight to see! It was determined not to leave without having its dinner first. Enjoy the rest of your week!
Thanks. There was no way that sparrow was not going with it.
oh, a very interesting post and he is a handsome bird too. Guess he was finding shelter and warmth in the chook-roost? Wonder will he return there…
I’ve never seen one before. I’d guess our really cold winter has brought it close to the buildings where there are about a billion sparrows.
Awesome series. What a determined and brave little bird.
I couldn’t believe how it stood up to those big birds. They seemed to be mildly amused by it.
I must say…I’m impressed with the feisty little bird! He looks too little to be carrying that sparrow around like a hawk!
I know! Before smart people on Facebook told me what it was, I thought it was a miniature hawk with super powers (yep, that’s the kind of birder I am).
Ha-ha! That’s the kind of birder I am too!
🙂
Wow, what a plucky little fellow! How fun that you got his bravery on camera! 🙂
It really was just luck that I happened to be there.
Too cool. I never thought about song birds being killers. Thanks for taking the time to post!
I hadn’t either. It’s a very interesting bird!
Interesting post! I hadn’t even heard of these birds before this! I’m also surprised he/she could carry off the sparrow.
I had heard of it, but that was it. Luckily, smart people could point me in the right direction and Cornell University has a great site to help determine which shrike it was and give me all those juicy tidbits of information.
Brilliant pictures, and a great story of nature as it happens. Smashing bird.
Thanks, Adam.
ooohhhh the old circle of life!! I know all about it but it still breaks my heart!
I know. It was fascinating to see that small bird standing up to the big chickens and fighting for his dinner.
Wonderful sequence of photos, the bird is very bold!
Yes, it is! Thanks for stopping by.
The shrike was doing what came naturally. Just last week I saw a shrike dive into a snowbank to catch a mouse, then carry it to a tree branch. Boy they are fast! And fierce!
I’d never seen one before, so it was completely amazing for me to watch!
That’s pretty awesome! Determination, indeed! I guess if you’re hungry enough you’ll do just about anything. We don’t have shrikes around here, but they’re very striking birds.
I’d never seen one before. I’d guess our cold winter brought it up to my buildings to hunt from the many sparrows hanging around.
We have loggerhead shrikes here in our area, marked very similar but I think a bit larger than your species you shared. And yes, they are ‘killers’…in fact, I read somewhere that shrikes are nicknamed the impaler bird…they’ve been seen hanging their prey on wires and nail heads to slaughter them before eating them. Nasty buggers, but ever so pretty.
At first when you warned us, I thought your critters were gonna get the shrike!!
Excellent post of nature taking its course.
I had never seen one before, but I’m very amazed. I’m guessing it was in the barn because of the harsh winter. That’s why I have so many sparrows in there.
Great documentation of your encounter with this very interesting bird.
Thanks. It was fascinating to watch.
Thank you so much for the photos. I loved that he was eating an English sparrow which are non native to the US and can take nesting habitat away from other birds. To me your shrike might be molting into adult plumage from juvenal plumage, I see some brownish barring on breast.