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Lanius ludovicianus
The bird has a large hooked bill; the head and back are grey and the underparts white. The wings and tail are black, with white patches on the wings and white on the outer tail feather. The black face mask extends over the bill, unlike that of the similar but slightly larger Northern Shrike. The Loggerhead Shrike hardly appears to be a predator. But it uses its hooked beak to kill insects, lizards, mice, and birds, and then impales them on thorns to hold them while it rips them apart.
Upper Texas Coast(UTC) 070 GALVESTON STATE PARK: Little remains of the once extensive barrier island habitats found along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts of North America. Beach resorts, coastal homes, and other development now dominate these lands. The small amount of relatively pristine habitat found in Galveston Island State Park is an important resource for many bird species. The property is in the path of the migration flyway used by most of the bird species that seasonally travel between North and South America. In the spring many birds make their first landfall on the island after flying over the Gulf.
Happy to sit on the top of the kiosk at the trailhead.
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