Black Dog Road Burnsville, MN

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Probably the biggest surprise to me when I was new to birding is that while so many of our birds leave Minnesota for the winter, new ones actually show up for the first time in fall and and winter. One such bird is the Northern Shrike, a species I just found for the first time yesterday on the back roads of Benton County. Northern Shrikes are a predatory songbird, about the size and shape of a Robin, only gray in color. They have a black “mask” across their eyes that help reduce the glare of sun and light as they hunt in mostly snowy habitat. They actually catch prey (including rodents) by using the sharp little hook at the tip of their bill as they don’t have talons like raptors (birds of prey) do. They are always a fun find. Benton County, MN 01/05/24

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This Northern Shrike was a huge distance away but I'm saving the photo just to show how this species will choose the very top-most portion of a tree as a perch. This huge cottonwood tree had to be 60+ feet tall and the twig chosen was probably 2 inches higher up than the next highest one to the left. This was the first Shrike I've seen since last November and my FOY for 2022. Hennepin County, MN 01/23/22

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Northern Shrike perched near Shingle Creek where it flows back out of Palmer Lake. Second time I've seen him here.

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