Townsend's Warbler

Townsend's Warbler

This boldly patterned warbler is a Pacific Northwest specialty that inhabits our coniferous forests. Townsend’s Warblers are a bright spot in the northwest’s gray winters and welcome visitors to the lowlands. They can occasionally be seen at suet feeders to the delight of backyard birders.

Northern Shrike

Northern Shrike

Like a sentinel, as described by its species name excubitor, Latin for watchman or guard, the Northern Shrike surveys its territory from a low perch on a shrub or post. With precision it hunts using a direct flight toward its prey-a small rodent or another bird-and dispatches it quickly by “pounding its bill into the base or back of the skull and the using its hooked bill severing the spinal cord between the neck vertebrae as falcons do” (Sibley).