Loggerhead shrikes have disappeared across much of their former range, most likely due to habitat loss. I studied the habitat shrikes prefer for foraging. Shrikes forage from a perch on prey that they see in the surrounding vegetation. When I mowed the vegetation on one side of selected perches, shrikes strongly preferred to forage on the mowed side even though prey biomass was far lower on this side. These results suggest that access to prey is important to shrikes rather than simply the total amount of prey in a habitat. Within territories, shrikes chose to perch on dead or partially dead trees more often than expected. I constructed artificial perches surrounded by leafy branches, dead branches, or no branches. Shrikes preferred artificial perches surrounded by dead branches. These results suggest that shrikes utilize perches with a good view of potential prey that also provide cover from potential attacks by predators.
","abstract_html":"<p>Loggerhead shrikes have disappeared across much of their former range, most likely due to habitat loss. I studied the habitat shrikes prefer for foraging. Shrikes forage from a perch on prey that they see in the surrounding vegetation. When I mowed the vegetation on one side of selected perches, shrikes strongly preferred to forage on the mowed side even though prey biomass was far lower on this side. These results suggest that access to prey is important to shrikes rather than simply the total amount of prey in a habitat. Within territories, shrikes chose to perch on dead or partially dead trees more often than expected. I constructed artificial perches surrounded by leafy branches, dead branches, or no branches. Shrikes preferred artificial perches surrounded by dead branches. These results suggest that shrikes utilize perches with a good view of potential prey that also provide cover from potential attacks by predators.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Becker, Miles"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Open Access Thesis","degree_discipline":"Biology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Peter Bednekoff, PhD, Chair","Catherine Bach, PhD","Jamin Eisenbach, PhD"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2006,"date_issued":"2006-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2006-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:16:24Z","subjects":["Loggerhead shrike Habitat","Loggerhead shrike","Biology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.emich.edu/theses/87","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Peter Bednekoff, PhD, Chair","Catherine Bach, PhD","Jamin Eisenbach, PhD"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Becker, Miles"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Biology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Loggerhead shrike Habitat","Loggerhead shrike","Biology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/87"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Loggerhead shrikes have disappeared across much of their former range, most likely due to habitat loss. I studied the habitat shrikes prefer for foraging. Shrikes forage from a perch on prey that they see in the surrounding vegetation. When I mowed the vegetation on one side of selected perches, shrikes strongly preferred to forage on the mowed side even though prey biomass was far lower on this side. These results suggest that access to prey is important to shrikes rather than simply the total amount of prey in a habitat. Within territories, shrikes chose to perch on dead or partially dead trees more often than expected. I constructed artificial perches surrounded by leafy branches, dead branches, or no branches. Shrikes preferred artificial perches surrounded by dead branches. These results suggest that shrikes utilize perches with a good view of potential prey that also provide cover from potential attacks by predators.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Loggerhead shrike (lanius ludovicianus L) foraging patch and perch selection"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Peter Bednekoff, PhD, Chair","Catherine Bach, PhD","Jamin Eisenbach, PhD"],"dc:creator":["Becker, Miles"],"dc:description.abstract":["Loggerhead shrikes have disappeared across much of their former range, most likely due to habitat loss. I studied the habitat shrikes prefer for foraging. Shrikes forage from a perch on prey that they see in the surrounding vegetation. When I mowed the vegetation on one side of selected perches, shrikes strongly preferred to forage on the mowed side even though prey biomass was far lower on this side. These results suggest that access to prey is important to shrikes rather than simply the total amount of prey in a habitat. Within territories, shrikes chose to perch on dead or partially dead trees more often than expected. I constructed artificial perches surrounded by leafy branches, dead branches, or no branches. Shrikes preferred artificial perches surrounded by dead branches. These results suggest that shrikes utilize perches with a good view of potential prey that also provide cover from potential attacks by predators.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/87"],"dc:subject":["Loggerhead shrike Habitat","Loggerhead shrike","Biology"],"dc:title":["Loggerhead shrike (lanius ludovicianus L) foraging patch and perch selection"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Biology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Open Access Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:16:24Z"}