Family: Laniidae

The birds in Laniidae are found in North America, New Guinea, Africa and Eurasia. This family has thirty species, most of them found in Africa and Eurasia. Only two species are found in North America. Shrikes are well known for impaling their food items on thorns and barbed wire fences. These prey items can be anything from small lizards to large insects. This impaling behavior is both territorial and food storing driven. Items such as Lubber Grasshoppers (Romalea guttata) are impaled because they are toxic and only "become edible after two days of lardering, presumably by denaturation of the toxins" (Gullan & Cranston 2000).

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Genus: Lanius

Brown Shrike (Lanius cristatus)

Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus)

Northern Shrike (Lanius excubitor)