#loggerhead shrikes

[rachelsrandomsphotos]

Loggerhead Shrikes (Lanius ludovicianus)

Taken at South Patrick Community Park in Satellite Beach, FL

[hrokkall]

Death spiral

[claypigeonpottery]

a recent carving of a shrike

[vintagewildlife]

Loggerhead shrike (Lanius ludovicianus) By: Joe Van Wormer From: Éditions Rencontre Cards 1978

[hyperiionvii]

junior illustration final: the seven deadly sins

[battle-of-the-birds]

Remember to read about the contestants before voting!

Loggerhead Shrike

A cute little songbird, the Loggerhead Strike is known for one particular thing… stabbing it’s prey onto thorns and barber wire. Without large talons to rip into its prey, they rely on this tactic of impaling their meals in order to get to the meat. They’ll impale mice, lizards, bugs, and smaller birds to these thorns. They used to be more widespread in America, however they are now listed as near threatened due to their significant population decrease. Learn More!

Common Raven

The common raven is a very smart bird. They have even been found to be drawn to gunshot sounds, as they know hunters will often kill animals. People have always been fascinated by ravens, and in London it’s said that if the ravens of London tower ever leave the whole British empire will crumble! They’re also seen as tricksters in Pacific Northwest Native American tribes. In one myth, they are told to have brought fire to people by stealing the sun. Learn More! Much More

(Art by @tertain-the-original )

[abirddogmoment]

A loggerhead shrike!

[freddieillustration]

birds etc from my sketchbook

[arachnid-party]

love me some butcher birds

(commissions are open!)

closeups under cut!

[amememightywarrior]

tonight i have drawn estinien as a loggerhead shrike with his prey speared on the thorns of a branch for later eating

[swandivetoestuary]

take a body to tundra (just take me with you as well)

1: the loggerhead shrike

[swede1952]

Butcher Bird’s Rest

I didn't know that I had this photograph. Perhaps I thought it to be a mockingbird when I took the picture. This is a loggerhead shrike (Lanius ludovicianus), the first that I've photographed.

"The Loggerhead Shrike is a songbird with a raptor’s habits. A denizen of grasslands and other open habitats throughout much of North America, this masked black, white, and gray predator hunts from utility poles, fence posts and other conspicuous perches, preying on insects, birds, lizards, and small mammals. Lacking a raptor’s talons, Loggerhead Shrikes skewer their kills on thorns or barbed wire or wedge them into tight places for easy eating. Their numbers have dropped sharply in the last half-century." - allaboutbirds.org

You can check out my gallery at:

[claypigeonpottery]

sold

[randomalistic]

Look at this fucking FREAK !

[officialweezerelections]

QUARTERFINALS

Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus)

These little birds know how to use weapons to skewer and tear apart their meals! Using thorns on plants or barbed wire, they butcher animals much larger than themselves by coming at them so quickly that it twists their heads and gives them whiplash. Their hooked beaks are perfect for tearing out the throats of their prey.

VERSUS

Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus)

Their gular sacks look like boobs and they bounce them around as part of their courting ritual. And they make this weird popping noise. Their crops aren’t large enough to digest seeds.

[notwantedonthemoon]

Apparently I have entered a phase in which I cannot draw anything except these two. I love Lucy and her funny best friend. Every time I think about them the chorus of The Boys Are Back from High School Musical 3 starts playing in my head.

Design stuff (and birds) below:

LUCY

Lucy is so tall. To this day I run into the issue of having no clue how to draw her next to any other character without having to imagine the other character standing on a stepstool just to be in frame. The solution to this, I gathered, is to get really used to drawing Lucy carrying people.

I very much intend for Lucy to have a frog vibe since she's thematically associated with transformation and being a part of two worlds at once- but at this point, the frog associations are running on pure vibes alone. I'm leaning more heavily on the extravagant bird associations.

Lucy decides to turn into a cormorant sometimes, so those were a pretty obvious place to turn for inspiration.

Because of their lighter feathers, I thought I'd give Lucy a lighter patch of hair, too. But then I stumbled upon this absolute majesty of a bird:

Look at these birds. I know nothing about them, except that they're called ruffs and they look fabulous, and I love them with my whole heart.

So I had to make that hair fluffy. I don't know how to adapt hair into a feathery neck-ruffle/mane but I will figure it out one day.

I don't know how to keep the ruffles for when Lucy eventually gets a Joan-of-Arc haircut, but I was thinking of picking another bird to accompany her wardrobe change: the loggerhead shrike! I'm considering somehow giving her that cool black mask patterning over their eyes that they have:

But then she might end up looking like a raccoon, or perhaps Batman. Further consideration is needed.

HAM

I had a brief phase in which my perception of Ham's appearance veered wildly off his canon description and I spent that entire phase squinting with increased agitation at Google images of medieval queen portraits.

I figured it would make sense for him to look rather intimidating and unapproachable; he's very intense, and lonely- he’s not good at making friends despite clearly wanting them. This eventually slid into me picturing him with a very regal, queenly vibe... that I absolutely failed to capture here lol he looks so friendly

He doesn't even look like a Ham, he looks more like a Penelope

Like how Hamlet was constantly pestered by his father's ghost badgering him for vengeance, I was badgered by my own thoughts constantly reminding me that Ham makes dad jokes, so my entire focus turned towards making sure that my Ham looks like a guy who makes dad jokes.

But my time spent scouring Google images has not gone completely to waste. It helped me come up with a new colour palette for him and I like it very much. Unfortunately implementing it does mean I have to give up on the walking Valentine's day card colour palette but alas. At least there are the shoes. The shoes can still look like a Valentine's day chocolate box.