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Published: 1997

Total Pages: 0

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The loggerhead shrike (Lanius Iudovlcianus) is a strictly North American passerine experiencing population declines throughout its range. It is a former candidate for listing as Threatened or Endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Shrikes are well-known for their behavior of impaling their prey on thorns and barbed wire. There are two subspecies that occur east of the Mississippi River, a resident subspecies and a rarer migrant subspecies. Shrikes breed throughout the southeastern United States, except for the Appalachian Mountain region and the eastern portions of North Carolina and Virginia. Loggerhead shrikes prefer open country, such as pastures with fence rows, old orchards, and mowed roadsides, where they feed on a variety of vertebrate and invertebrate prey. Longleaf pine savannas and open, mature stands of loblolly pine-shortleaf pine also provide suitable habitat for the shrike in the Southeast. Shrikes have been documented and are locally common on several military installations in the Southeast. This report is one of a series of 'Species Profiles' being developed for threatened, endangered, and sensitive species inhabiting southeastern United States plant communities. The work is being conducted as part of the Department of Defense (DoD) Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP). The report is designed to supplement information provided in plant community management reports for major United States plant communities found on military installations. Information provided on the loggerhead shrike includes status, life history and ecology, habitat requirements, impacts and cause of decline, management and protection, and inventory and monitoring.