The earlier post of a Long-tailed Shrike (Lanius schach) impaling a lizard on a palm thorn has made people more aware of this feeding behaviour of shrikes. This is the first reported case of a shrike impaling its prey in Singapore accompanied with images.
The post attracted the attention of Dr Robert deCandido, an ornithologist based in New York who is familiar with the region. Robert mentioned that the late Laurence Poh photographed the larder of a Long-tailed Shrike, “including one frog that had been impaled.” The photograph was taken in 2003 in Ipoh, in the Malaysian state of Perak.
Now, Kwong Wai Chong has sent in his image of the shrike eating from its cache – a skink impaled on the broken end of a dead branch.
We welcome more records of shrikes impaling their prey from photographers and birdwatchers alike. The current public records of such feeding behaviour needs to be updated.
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