Loggerhead Shrike
Loggerhead Shrike has fallen sharply: down 74% on the route-weighted index since 1968.
About the Loggerhead Shrike
A masked, predatory songbird of open country, the Loggerhead Shrike impales prey on thorns and barbed wire and has declined across much of its range.
- Size
- 8–9 in long, about 1.7 oz (20–23 cm, 48 g)
- Habitat
- Open grasslands, prairie, pasture and hayfields.
- Diet
- Large insects, small mammals, reptiles and birds, often cached on thorns.
- Range
- Recorded on 2,122 Breeding Bird Survey routes across 42 states, most concentrated in the Southeastern Coastal Plain.
- Family
- Laniidae · Grassland birds
- Conservation
- Near Threatened
Notable Loggerhead Shrike Trends
Loggerhead Shrike has fallen sharply in surveyed states: down 74% on the route-weighted index since 1968.
Loggerhead Shrike Population Forecast
If the recent trend holds, Loggerhead Shrike is projected to fall about 80% by 2029 — from 0.53 in 2024 to a central estimate of 0.11 (95% range 0.00–0.47). A 5-year backtest shows a typical error of ±52.9%, with 80% of held-out values landing inside the 95% band.
| Year | Projected index | 95% low | 95% high |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 0.21 | 0.00 | 0.56 |
| 2026 | 0.18 | 0.00 | 0.54 |
| 2027 | 0.16 | 0.00 | 0.52 |
| 2028 | 0.13 | 0.00 | 0.49 |
| 2029 | 0.11 | 0.00 | 0.47 |
Where the Loggerhead Shrike Is Detected
BBS routes recording Loggerhead Shrike, sized by most recent count.
Loggerhead Shrike Population Trend by State
| Alabama | -91% | 1968 | 95 |
| Arizona | -67% | 1970 | 76 |
| Arkansas | -88% | 1969 | 39 |
| California | -88% | 1970 | 156 |
| Colorado | -69% | 1970 | 79 |
| Florida | -83% | 1968 | 105 |
| Georgia | -76% | 1968 | 84 |
| Idaho | +142% | 1971 | 23 |
| Illinois | -97% | 1968 | 66 |
| Indiana | -45% | 1980 | 10 |
| Iowa | -86% | 1969 | 34 |
| Kansas | -88% | 1969 | 59 |
| Kentucky | -96% | 1968 | 35 |
| Louisiana | -82% | 1969 | 89 |
| Maine | insufficient data | n/a | 2 |
| Maryland | insufficient data | n/a | 2 |
| Michigan | -82% | 1969 | 7 |
| Minnesota | -86% | 1969 | 18 |
| Mississippi | -83% | 1968 | 51 |
| Missouri | -95% | 1969 | 68 |
| Montana | -27% | 1970 | 55 |
| Nebraska | -79% | 1969 | 59 |
| Nevada | -32% | 1970 | 49 |
| New Mexico | -79% | 1970 | 70 |
| New York | insufficient data | n/a | 5 |
| North Carolina | -93% | 1968 | 55 |
| North Dakota | -68% | 1969 | 34 |
| Ohio | -79% | 1970 | 11 |
| Oklahoma | -87% | 1969 | 63 |
| Oregon | -3% | 1970 | 37 |
| Pennsylvania | insufficient data | n/a | 1 |
| South Carolina | -85% | 1968 | 41 |
| South Dakota | -54% | 1969 | 51 |
| Tennessee | -96% | 1968 | 37 |
| Texas | -81% | 1969 | 207 |
| Utah | +105% | 1971 | 74 |
| Vermont | insufficient data | n/a | 1 |
| Virginia | -98% | 1968 | 29 |
| Washington | -81% | 1970 | 28 |
| West Virginia | insufficient data | n/a | 6 |
| Wisconsin | -60% | 1969 | 12 |
| Wyoming | +11% | 1970 | 99 |
Loggerhead Shrike Population Trend by Region
Bird Conservation Regions are the ecological unit for trends.
| Northern Pacific Rainforest | -56% | 1976 | 8 |
| Great Basin | -35% | 1970 | 173 |
| Northern Rockies | +42% | 1970 | 74 |
| Prairie Potholes | -21% | 1969 | 79 |
| Southern Rockies / Colorado Plateau | -78% | 1970 | 109 |
| Badlands and Prairies | -32% | 1969 | 112 |
| Shortgrass Prairie | -61% | 1969 | 126 |
| Central Mixed Grass Prairie | -91% | 1969 | 115 |
| Edwards Plateau | -41% | 1971 | 15 |
| Oaks and Prairies | -95% | 1969 | 71 |
| Eastern Tallgrass Prairie | -88% | 1968 | 165 |
| Prairie Hardwood Transition | -88% | 1968 | 26 |
| Central Hardwoods | -99% | 1968 | 108 |
| West Gulf Coastal Plain / Ouachitas | -98% | 1969 | 72 |
| Mississippi Alluvial Valley | -70% | 1968 | 69 |
| Southeastern Coastal Plain | -84% | 1968 | 268 |
| Appalachian Mountains | -95% | 1968 | 63 |
| Piedmont | -93% | 1968 | 77 |
| Peninsular Florida | -84% | 1968 | 69 |
| Coastal California | -85% | 1970 | 89 |
| Sonoran and Mojave Deserts | -84% | 1970 | 86 |
| Sierra Madre Occidental | -60% | 1970 | 23 |
| Chihuahuan Desert | -52% | 1969 | 50 |
| Tamaulipan Brushlands | +277% | 1976 | 16 |
| Gulf Coastal Prairie | -55% | 1969 | 45 |
Loggerhead Shrike Conservation Status
Near Threatened
The IUCN Red List rates this species as Near Threatened. Our route-weighted index shows it down about 74% since 1968. Grassland birds are North America's steepest-declining group, down roughly 50% since 1970 as prairie and pasture were lost.
Source: USGS North American Breeding Bird Survey, retrieved 2026-05-22. Trend is a route-weighted relative-abundance index, not an absolute population.