A closeup of a Northern Shrike as it recovers from hitting a window. / © Louis Megyesi
Congratulations to Louis Megyesi for winning the March 2017 iNaturalist Vermont photo-observation of the month contest. The closeup of a Northern Shrike as it recovered from a window strike was the most popular photo-observation as measured by clicked ‘favs’.
Northern Shrikes, aka “butcher bird” – are predatory songbirds that breed in the far north and winter in southern Canada and the northern United States. Look at the sharp beak in the image above. Shrikes feed on small birds, mammals, and insects, and are known for impaling them on spines trees or barbed wire fences. VCE’s Chris Rimmer discovered that they can return winter after winter to the same territory. Using band recoveries, he found 12 cases in which shrikes were recaptured at or near the same winter location one to three years later.
Visit iNaturalist Vermont, a project of the Vermont Atlas of Life, and you can vote for the winner this month by clicking ‘fav’ on your favorite photo-observation. Make sure you get outdoors and record the biodiversity around you and submit your discoveries and you could be a winner!
