The Wildlife of
Holy Island

 
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Birds of Prey - The Brown Shrike

First seen on Monday 26th October 2020 at Holy Island

This Brown Shrike may not initially look like a bird of prey, but Shrikes are also know as 'Butcher Birds'. They get this nick-name from their habit of taking prey (insects, small mammals and small reptiles, even small birds) and then impaling them on thorns. This helps them to break up the food and also acts as a 'larder' for keeping their food for later. They are relatively small (about the same size as a Thrush) and not very common. In fact this Brown Shrike is very rare, being a vagrant from Asia. This one stayed on Holy Island for several weeks and lived in the meadows north-west of the Castle (near Straight Lonnen).