An Activity Guide About the Songbirds of British Columbia Family LANIIDAE: Shrikes

FIELD MARKS There are only two species of shrikes in British Columbia. Shrikes are medium-sized birds with sharp, strongly hooked bills. They are often strongly patterned with light and dark plumage. FOOD These birds are predators that eat small birds and mammals as well as insects. They often kill their prey with their sharp bills. Unlike other birds of prey, shrikes do not have strong feet or large talons for grasping or holding prey. Instead, they have perching feet that are characteristic of songbirds. Their dead prey are often impaled on a thorn or barbed wire where it can be saved to feed on later. Northern Shrike (Lanius excubitor)