I was recently in Utah, leading a birding slash geology tour through several national parks.

My group and I were out exploring a wetland one morning, driving slowly along a backroad in our van.

Already the birding had been lots of fun.

We'd seen peregrine falcons, sandhill cranes, Mountain Bluebirds, and many other great species.

So we were driving along slowly when suddenly there was a small flash of gray and white that

flew across the front of the van. We followed the movement to see that there on the side of the

road a few feet away was a loggerhead Shrike. But the Shrike was not alone. The Shrike was in a

wrestling match with another bird, but this was no game. It was a matter of life and death.

My group and I watched in fascination and, honestly, a little bit of horror as the Shrike made the kill. The other bird stopped

struggling and went limp. Now we could see that the poor little thing was a Vesper Sparrow,

a species about three-quarters the size of the Shrike. The Shrike dragged its victim through the

dust up into the cover of a twiggy bush, like a miniature

leopard hauling its prey into a tree. Wow, this dramatic scene was one of the wildest things I've

seen while out-birding. I was sad for the Vesper Sparrow, naturally, but I also felt lucky to see a loggerhead Shrike in action.

After all, a Shrike is a songbird that behaves more like a miniature raptor.

This is true for all the Shrike species of the world.

They're fierce little predators that fuel the nightmares of insects, reptiles, small mammals, and small birds.

Hello and welcome. This is the science of birds.

I am your host, Ivan Philipson.

The Science of Birds podcast is a light-hearted exploration of bird biology for lifelong learners.

This is episode 75.

It's all about Shrikes, birds in the family, Leneidae.

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