Dave observed a lone Long-tailed shrike Lanius schach in the vicinity of Bishan MRT station on many occasions (Image 1). The bird is unafraid of people and allowed the photographer to approach it to a distance of 2 m. It is often seen around noon, perched on the tallest wire of the fence (Image 2). On 31 December 2022 Dave observed it perching and scanning its surroundings in the shade of small shrubs in the same vicinity.
At approximately 5 pm on 1 January 2023, Dave documented the shrike diving into the grass to catch insects. Below are some videos that he shared with BESGroup.
Video 1: The shrike flying down to the grass to foray. The sound of a passing train did not perturb the bird at all.
View the following shorts taken of the bird going about to catch its dinner.
Shrike caught an insect prey https://youtube.com/shorts/5cMt4VVZk-4
Shrike hopping about https://youtube.com/shorts/w3WeF47kFrc
Shrike looking for insect prey https://youtube.com/shorts/pRO72n54rGc
All photographs and videos © Dave, taken with phone camera.
Read the following posts to find out more about the Long-tailed shrike:
https://besgroup.org/2022/04/07/long-tailed-shrike-talons/
https://besgroup.org/2022/03/13/long-tailed-shrike-call-and-song/
https://besgroup.org/2019/05/16/long-tailed-shrike-mobbing-barn-owl/
https://besgroup.org/2013/01/28/diet-and-feeding-behaviour-of-the-long-tailed-shrike/
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