Every time the doorbell rings during baby bird season, there is an opportunity for surprise. This was the case in mid-July on one of my volunteer shifts. The bell rang, and I went downstairs to meet the finder. "Finders" are the concerned people who find injured, sick, or orphaned birds and bring them to Wild Bird for care. The finder came in holding up a dog kennel she'd used to transport the bird (a good method, in case any readers are wondering). I peeked through the slim wire bars and, to my delight, saw a Loggerhead Shrike staring back at me!                                      

Loggerhead Shrikes have earned themselves the nickname "Butcher Bird." The Shrike is considered a song bird, but with the hunting and eating habits of a raptor. They are typically found in open grasslands and scrubby open areas with bushes and trees for perching. They can also be seen on utility or fence posts where they're able to look down for prey. Shrikes eat lizards, grasshoppers, small mammals, and even small birds. They use their sharp, hooked bill to sever the spinal cord of prey when they strike from above.  Shrikes often carry their prey to branches or barbed wire to impale it; they lack the talons of birds of prey, so this method allows them to eat their meal at leisure. Some of the butterflies and bugs may also contain a toxin if eaten immediately, and letting the bug sit out for a couple of days allows the toxins to dissipate.

The Shrike in the kennel in front of me had been orphaned on the finder's property, and the finder didn’t want it to die all alone. She took it into her home and fed it softened kibble. Though the Shrike adjusted to being fed by hand and was growing well, the finder accurately realized that a licensed rescue center needed to take over the Shrike's care and ensure it could get released back to the wild. Wild birds and animals raised by humans risk imprinting on people and losing the skills to survive in the wild, where they belong. Our task would be formidable with this Shrike. We had to keep it healthy and prevent it from imprinting, of course, but the biggest responsibility would be transitioning the Shrike into raptor behavior so it could survive on its own. It needed to be able to catch and impale its own prey. 

Initially, we provided soaked kibble and mealworms—hand-fed to the Shrike using tweezers—and water via syringe. Every time the Shrike saw a human in the room, it fluttered its wings and made little begging noises. While this behavior might be considered adorable, and certainly swelled any observer's heart, it wasn't going to help the Shrike learn to hunt. As the Shrike got older, we started leaving mealworms in the cage, hoping the movement would catch its attention. Progress happened! Soon, the Shrike could eat without tweezer-feeding, but still begged every time it saw humans in the room. To prevent imprinting, we didn't talk to it (not talking to rescued wild birds is imprint-preventive standard practice) and needed to keep the front of the cage covered.  

After a couple of weeks, we varied the Shrike's diet to include crickets, super worms, and “pinkies.” Pinkies are baby mice that are raised as food for lizards and snakes. We purchased 1 - 1.5 inch frozen mice and defrosted them. Sometimes, the Shrike ate the mouse whole, and other times we cut the pinkie into pieces and skewered each piece on a branch. We started with one pinkie a day and increased to three as the Shrike grew. The bird also graduated from regular mealworms to super worms. It was not fond of wax worms or grubs. On occasion, it made a little “zeep” noise after eating a pinkie or bunch of super worms. I like to imagine it was a “contented Shrike” sound. Slowly but surely, the Shrike started looking around the branches and bars of the cage in order to find places to cache the prey we provided. This was the hunting behavior we'd been working toward.

After about a month in our daily care, we moved the Loggerhead Shrike to our flight cage in Watkins. The Watkins location allows birds to stretch out and strengthen their wings, and to practice feeding and foraging on their own. We still leave out seed and water for them and, in the case of the shrike, worms and pinkies. Due to the Shrike's feeding habits, it was never housed with smaller song birds. 

Time came for the Shrike's eventual release. We did a "soft release" because the Watkins location is the perfect habitat for a Shrike. A soft release meant opening the cage for the bird to come and go as it pleased, but always keeping food and water available for it. For about three days, it flew down from the perches in the flight cage to eat pinkies and worms, then ventured out of the cage into the world for long stretches of time, coming back later. On about the fourth day, the Loggerhead Shrike didn't come back after leaving the cage. Nor did it come back on the fifth day, nor the day after that. The Shrike had left Wild Bird for good. We wish it a long life and happy hunting.

We are partnered with King Soopers and City Market loyalty card programs so that a percentage of your total will go to help the Wild Bird cause! 

1.)  Once you've signed in at www.kingsoopers.com or www.citymarket.com, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on Community Rewards.  

2.)  Follow the prompts to Enroll Now.  

3.)  When prompted, enter Wild Bird Information and Rehabilitation into the Find An Organization box, and Wild Bird should be the first option that comes up, labeled as Yl318, PO Box 101133, Denver, CO 80260.

Please note that if you’re a new user, you’ll need to create an account with some basic information, a valid email address, and a loyalty card. 

Just visit the customer service desk at King Soopers or City Market if you don’t have a loyalty card!

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