Carrion Shrike

The carrion shrike is an exception to the general rule that Wildlanders won't bother naming anything that isn't either a direct danger or a resource to them. This might be because their trees tend to attract both nuisance insects and scavengers that may also try to steal rations, or it might just be because their hunting behavior is equal parts noticeable and peculiar. Either way, most people who have delved any considerable distance into the Wildlands has at some point encountered them, and their trees sometimes serve as convenient landmarks as well as good places to dispose of the waste from field dressing game.

Basic Information

Anatomy

The carrion shrike measures approximately 8-10 inches beak to tail. Its beak resembles something between a finch's and a raptor's beak; relatively straight with a tallish base and a hooked tip. Its upper beak has a few rows of tiny sharp nubs on the sides near the edge, a medium gray that stands out against the otherwise off-black beak and pure black nares. Most of the shrike's body is covered in a mottled mix of brown and slightly green-tinged tan or beige feathers, with a black head and wings with black undersides. Male shrikes have between one and three black-shafted, blood-red feathers among the black ones, visible only in flight, which first show one or two molts after they reach adulthood and increase in number with age. Should a bird survive past fertile age, both black and red wing feathers will take on a charcoal gray color, only the shaft of the feather retaining the black coloration. Its feet are the same gray as the nubs on its beak, with one backward-facing and three forward-facing toes. While both feet bear talons, one will have sharp, curved talons suitable for gaining purchase in flesh, while the other will have more modest claws primarily suited for gaining purchase on coarse bark or gripping branches.

Ecology and Habitats

Prefers areas away from the edge of the Wildlands, though not in the heart of it, and may move to new territory if large predators, including humans, start using a trail near its nesting tree. Territories where insects reproduce in numbers are strongly favored to the point where conflict over prime hunting spots may arise between birds, even as they otherwise are solitary birds.

Dietary Needs and Habits

The carrion shrike does not, as the name might first suggest, feed on carrion. It is in fact almost exclusively insectivorous (to the degree Wildlands wildlife can be neatly split into categories, at least), favoring carrion-feeding insects. It was instead named for the way it goes about obtaining these insects. Using the abrasive sides of its beak, it will sharpen choice twigs or branches within its territory into a sharp point. The ideal branch for this purpose is no thicker than a little finger and branches directly off of the trunk or one of the major limbs of a tree, pointing slightly upward but not straight up. It will then locate a small animal, or the still-fleshy remains of an already-dead creature, and bring it back to this spike to be impaled. It doesn't appear to be bothered about whether its prey is still alive by the time it gets added to the shrike's "hunting tree." As insects are drawn to the decomposing carcass, the shrike will either pick them off as they arrive or permit them to lay their eggs so that it can later feast on its larvae, depending on species. Typically the shrike will choose two or three trees within its territory for setting its morbid lures, cycling between them, though if it is currently feeding young this number may increase significantly. Some of its bait carcasses do tend to get stolen by carrion feeders given a chance, particularly if it is a young bird that has not yet learned what makes a good bait-spike. In times of plenty or leading up to the hatching of a clutch of chicks, the carrion shrike does also engage in behavior more typical to similar birds in other areas, finding a thorny tree and using its thorns as a larder to return to later. This is often the same tree as it builds its nest in, presumably to make it easier to guard its resources from would-be thieves.

Average Length

8½ inches

Geographic Distribution