«Breaking Pic News» Tiny 'butcher birds' that impale prey on SPIKES take down large animals by giving them whiplash

Don't underestimate the the loggerhead shrike.  

They may be small, but these songbirds are known for their vicious hunting tactics, using their hooked bill to stab their victims in the head, before impaling them on sharp objects such as thorns or barbed wire.

While a razor-sharp bill helps them carry out these attacks, experts have long wondered about their ability to subdue much larger prey.

Now researchers say these carnivorous killers use powerful beak-and-jaw motions to shake their victims vigorously, whirling them around at speeds which cause injuries akin to whiplash.

While a razor-sharp bill helps them carry out violent attacks, experts have long wondered about their ability to subdue much larger prey. Researchers say shrikes use powerful beak-and-jaw motions to shake their victims vigorously, causing injuries akin to whiplash

'We already knew that they can kill surprisingly large animals for their size, but we didn't know specifically how they do it,' said Dr Diego Sustaita, lead author of a study published in Wednesday's Biology Letters journal.

Although shrikes have sharply hooked, falcon-like beaks which they jab into the head or neck of their prey, causing partial paralysis, they don't have the large talons possessed by other birds of prey to help them finish the job.

But researchers at San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research on California's San Clemente island found clear evidence of violent shaking in a motion which uses the victim's weight against it, Sustaita said.

'The way that shrikes shake their prey is likely to be important for immobilising and killing it because the accelerations of the prey's own body around its neck results in forces that could break or damage the neck,' he told AFP.

'The rate at which the shrikes shake their heads was surprising, especially with relatively large animals in their jaws!' he said, with the study suggesting the movement resulted in accelerations equivalent of around 6g-force.

For the study, researchers studied footage of attacks by 37 loggerhead shrikes involving live domestic black mice and other creatures. 

Although shrikes have sharply hooked, falcon-like beaks which they jab into the head or neck of their prey, causing partial paralysis, they don't have the large talons possessed by other birds of prey to help them finish the job

In 28 cases, they observed prey-shaking behaviour with the results giving a clear indicator of how the birds subdued larger creatures.

'They help explain how a small songbird is able to kill relatively large animals in ways that differ from large raptors like hawks. 

'Shrikes have some of the 'equipment' like the sharply-hooked beak, but not all, like the talons, and so they seem to have found another way to get the job done.'

WHAT ARE SHRIKES? 

There are more than 30 species of shrike, and great grey shrikes, also called northern shrikes, can be found in North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Despite their small size, with most weighing between 60 and 70 grams, northern grey shrikes are successful hunters, who catch their prey by surprise by ‘drop-pouncing,’ them from a high up place.

Shrikes use their hooked beak to crack prey's skull, and impale the victim on sharp objects, like thorns or barbed wire.

These birds will kill even when they aren’t hungry, and will imitate the songs of other birds to lure in their victims.

While shrikes generally consume their prey within nine days of capture, they often collect their kill in thorny bushes to stake their territory, attract females, and hide food from competitors.

Shrikes, he said, are disproportionately strong for their size but their ability to kill is actually more reliant on speed.

'As a group, shrikes can take prey larger than you would expect for their body sizes and 'types' -- keep in mind, these are songbirds. 

'You wouldn't expect a robin, for instance, to have the strength to kill a mouse and they don't,' he said.

'This particular behaviour relies more on speed to generate accelerations to take advantage of the prey's body weight, so it might not necessitate as much strength as it would seem.'

Linkhienalouca.com

https://hienalouca.com/2018/09/05/tiny-butcher-birds-that-impale-prey-on-spikes-take-down-large-animals-by-giving-them-whiplash/
Main photo article Don’t underestimate the the loggerhead shrike.  
They may be small, but these songbirds are known for their vicious hunting tactics, using their hooked bill to stab their victims in the head, before impaling them on sharp objects such as thorns or barbed wire.
While a razor-sharp bill h...

It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.

Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.

Dianne Reeves Online news HienaLouca





https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2018/09/05/13/wire-4182672-1536151371-162_634x422.jpg