The Butcher Bird
thebirdsofamerica: Plate 56 of The Birds of America by John Audubon, the Loggerhead Shrike, aka the Butcher Bird. Yes, they’re songbirds, but nobody ever bothered to tell them they’re not birds of prey. They kill insects and even larger prey (mouse pictured by Audubon) and leave them impaled on thorns, cacti, barbed wire fences, or anything sharp.
