Help save the shrike! Indiana Audubon, the Indiana DNR’s Division of Fish and Wildlife, and the Loggerhead Shrike Working Group have teamed up to help provide shrubs for shrikes through the Adopt a Shrike Program.
The loggerhead shrike is a state endangered species that has experienced precipitous declines in recent years. In the late 1980s, Indiana’s Loggerhead Shrike population consisted of nearly one hundred breeding pairs. Ongoing monitoring efforts now identify fewer than ten breeding pairs annually in the entire state. Habitat loss due to changes in land use is likely a contributing factor, as much of the grassland habitat in their historical range has been developed or converted to large scale agriculture.
Remaining shrike breeding pairs now tend to occupy small farms with over grazed pasture, barbed wire fences, and nest bushes. Overgrazed pastures produce bare ground, which provides ideal hunting conditions for shrikes who need to spot and capture prey on the ground, but little nesting trees and shrubs. The DNR’s current efforts are working to provide shrike nesting habitat by focusing on nest bushes and shrubs along fence-rows.
Photos: Fledgling Loggerhead Shrikes using planted cedar trees in Daviess County (left) and a banded shrike (right). Courtesy of Amy Kearns.
How You Can Help
In helping with this initiative, IAS and the DNR Division of Fish and Wildlife Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Fund program is teaming up for the Adopt a Shrike program. Donors will receive a special adoption certificate highlighting the shrike research and conservation being done, an exclusive annual report detailing all of the year’s shrike banding efforts and a commemorative “Never met a shrike I didn’t like” water bottle. Each adoption is $50 and can be purchased through our online store.
The Story Behind the Shrubs
Wondering how this initiative took root? Read this article from the National Audubon Society about the challenges facing Loggerhead Shrikes and the vital role private landowners play in their recovery. Adoptions through Indiana Audubon help fund the habitat improvements featured in the story.
More About Shrike Recovery
Want to learn more about the shrike research being done and ways you can help the program? Visit the Loggerhead Shrike Working Group website or the DNR’s Loggerhead Shrike page. If you want to learn more about the DNR’s Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Fund or make a direct donation, go to on.in.gov/nongamefund.
Report a Shrike
To report a Loggerhead Shrike sighting, contact Amy Kearns at [email protected] or (812) 849-4586, ext. 223.
