This is Bird Note.

The Northern Shrike is a robin-sized pale gray bird with black wings and a jet-black mask.

But don't let this quirky metallic song fool you.

It's the call of a bloodthirsty killer.

The Northern Shrike breeds in the tundra and tiga of the north, but migrates south for the winter,

perching on the tops of tall trees and shrubs to look for prey. The Shrike is a meat eater,

diving from its tall perches to catch insects, small mammals, and even other birds.

It's such a fierce hunter. It'll often take down prey bigger than itself. Then it carries its

meal over to a thorny bush, or maybe to a barbed wire fence, and impales it, sticking its meat on a hook

before slowly tearing it apart the way we might eat a rotissory chicken.

That's why Shrikes are also known by another name, the Butcher Birds.

If you want to see a Northern Shrike in action, head to open country in Canada and the

Northern U.S. and listen for the butcher bird's innocent-sounding song.

For Bird note, I'm Ashley Ahern.