Unlimited edition. 18 x 24 inch, museum-quality poster on matte paper.

The same “butcher bird” nickname that North American shrikes carry applies to the bull-headed shrike – all shrike species utilize the strike-then-spike method of consuming larger prey items whereby the bird kills a small reptile, amphibian, bird, or mammal and impales it on a barbed-wire fence or thorn-bearing shrub so that it can more readily tear apart the prey item to eat it. The bull-headed shrike is about the same size as North America’s endemic loggerhead shrike and it wears a similar black bandit mask, but the bull-headed shrike adds rusty browns to its otherwise black, white, and grey outfit.

The diets of the two birds are alike, too, although my review of the dietary analysis suggests the bull-headed shrike takes more amphibian prey, especially frogs, than does the loggerhead shrike.

Sadly, the two species share something else in common: both are declining in number due to habitat loss. The bird’s numbers have been decreasing as farmland has disappeared around Tokyo and other city centers. Ornithologists believe the species will soon be classified as “threatened” in Japan.

Note: These archival poster prints feature rich, appealing colors. I encourage customers to take care in handling them until they are framed/protected for display; the darker colors on the matte paper can be scratched. They ship rolled, so customers need to flatten them before framing (or have their framer do so).

Charitable Sales Model: Whenever one of these poster prints is purchased, a charitable contribution equal to 10% of the print’s cost (or $3.60) is made to a nonprofit working to tackle environmental or social challenges. Read more about my charitable sales model here.