Posted by John Boyd on November 07, 2002 at 06:40:13:
In Reply to: Pranty is wrong posted by Paul on November 06, 2002 at 16:00:44:
: Logerhead shrikes are quite common in south Florida. I've been here my whole life and although not as common as the mockingbird they do live and thrive quite well in the western parts of Broward, Dade, and all over monroe County. Probably their habit of feeding in cow pastures, open fields, along rode borders, and the fact they are very territorial makes them appear scarce. We have two nesting pair within a 24 acre parcel in Parkland and these birds (or parents) have been with us since 1996. In early Sea Ranch Lakes (before development) the shrike summertime "zeek zeeek zeeek" was a common call. Walking home from the school bus through Galt Ocean mile (still undeveloped at the time) I would amuse myself watching them hover like a helicopter and pounce on bugs along the old narrow A1A road.
: Shrike are here, have been here, and seem to be adapting to development.
According to the Birder's Guide to Florida, Loggerhead Shrike is "An uncommon to locally common resident of open areas north of the Everglades, local or absent in the extreme southern peninsula and Keys."
Stevenson & Anderson call it "rare in extreme s Florida and casual on the Keys"
These comments are manifestly incorrect, so why do they say these things? I would guess they are relying on CBC data. Until the last few years (after both books were published), Shrikes were quite rare on the Dade CBC. I didn't check the Coot Bay CBC results, but it does not include much shrike habitat.
I've got quite few of them in my neighborhood in W. Kendall...enough so that the winter influx is not particularly noticeable (to be honest, I hadn't noticed it...someone had to point it out to me). However, it is very noticeable when the fledglings are out and about.
There may have been an increase in numbers in recent years, especially in winter. The 2001 TAS checklist, which covers the area from Lake Okeechobee south, considered them uncommon in Spring, Summer, and Fall; common in Winter. The previous edition (1996) lists them as uncommon in Winter.
The Breeding Bird Atlas did show them breeding in substantial areas of Dade, but not in the Keys.