[music]
- So there's the nest right over there.
Sprinkler spraying right into it.
- JON HAYES: Might cool them off at least.
- DR. GIOCOMO: Oh yeah, there's one above the nest.
- JON: Oh yeah look at that.
- NARRATOR: These birds are Loggerhead Shrikes,
and despite the occasional unplanned shower,
this city park in Round Rock, Texas has turned out to be a
pretty good place to build a nest.
- JON: Here comes the sprinkler hitting them again.
- This is a 570 acre park in a very urbanized area,
and there's at least 14 different pairs with young.
[chain saw]
- JON: It's not necessarily the ideal place as far as
we are concerned.
It's managed for recreational purposes and it is in a
suburban community.
But there's something about it that they like.
- NARRATOR: The Loggerhead in the bird's name refers to its
fairly large head in relation to the rest of the body.
The Loggerhead Shrike is unusual in that it's a
songbird with a raptor's habits.
Its diet consists of bugs and insects, but it also eats
lizards, snakes, mice, even other songbirds.
- DR. GIOCOMO: One of the things that it has is a hooked bill.
When they capture their prey they catch it on the back like
a lion in the savanna, pull it down then bite at the neck to
paralyze their prey.
- NARRATOR: Then the shrike will do something that is
really interesting.
It impales its meal on something sharp, like a thorn
or barbed wire.
- DR. GIOCOMO: Their feet aren't strong enough to hold
on to and tear it apart like a raptor would, they put it on
thorns so the thorn can hold the food and they can use
their bill to get pieces to feed their young.
- It's kind of a story of brains versus brawn.
It's smart enough to learn to adapt and use its environment.
And so it's kind of a neat little bird in that way.
- NARRATOR: Jim Giocomo came to this park looking for
Scissor-tail Flycatchers.
What he found was a lot of Loggerhead Shrikes.
- DR. GIOCOMO: They are a common bird that is in
serious decline.
They are declining by six percent a year in this area.
So there are eggs.
They are listed as endangered in Canada.
They span across all of North America down into Mexico.
They are one of the many grassland birds that are
in trouble right now.
- NARRATOR: Trouble for the Loggerhead Shrike and many
grassland bird species comes in the form of habitat changes.
Jim is with the Oaks and Prairies Joint Venture,
which is a partnership of government agencies
and private groups working to address habitat loss
and restoration for grassland birds.
- DR. GIOCOMO: As humans we are really good at either
clearing out the land or letting everything grow up
and get overgrown with shrubs, and these birds kind of need
something in the middle.
They need the low grass but they also need the
scattered trees within the fields for nest sites.
- JON: So a number of these grassland species are in a
serious decline but one of the nice things about these types
of birds is they respond well to management.
And so when we've got landowners out there doing
the right things, providing the right kind of habitat,
we can see increases in the population pretty quickly.
Heck of a start.
- NARRATOR: While the folks with the Oaks and Prairies
Joint Venture are out there working with landowners to
improve habitat for grassland birds, these Loggerhead Shrikes
have made this urban park their home.
- JON: It's the short grass, scattered trees where they can
find perches, plenty of areas to forage around those trees.
They've had to come to places like this that are providing
the habitat that they need but may be less than ideal when we
think about it from a larger scale.
- NARRATOR: And those Scissor-tail Fly Catchers
that Jim had originally hoped to find?
Well, they too have settled in at Old Settlers Park.
- JON: There's something about this park that provides the
right structure for them really and provides
the kind of habitat that they're looking for.
It's just kind of hit a sweet spot for them
and they obviously like this area.
[birds chirping]
- NARRATOR: This project was funded in part by a grant from
Wildlife Restoration Program.
On a side note here, we'd like to discourage you from
sticking your smartphone, or your camera, or anything
into an active birds nest.
You risk the parents abandoning the nest,
and it could be considered 'harassment of wildlife.'
So leave the research and the photography
to the professionals.