#butcherbirds

[catherine-of-aragorn]

Shrikes are seriously the funniest birds to me. Like if you heard about a predatory species of bird that literally *impales its prey* and is nicknamed "the Butcherbird" you would probably expect something large and badass and intimidating but in reality they just look like this:

and it's hilarious.

this bird just looks like the physical manifestation of "you're so cute when you're angry"

[redrcs]

The visitors.

Butcherbirds patiently waiting for cheese.

[cabadath-prince-of-pain]

What doth his majesty think of Shrikes/Butcherbirds?

The former Prince was not aware such birds existed. He finds them to be quite lovely, actually.

[beta-lactam-allergic]

Yesterday, I found the remains of one of our loyal butcherbirds on the side of the road. I think they got hit by a car (I could never tell the sexes apart in butcherbirds, hence the neutral pronoun). I'm going to miss you, little bird, but at least the others are still alive.

[thebusylilbird]

whoever is responsible for naming australian magpies "magpies" when they are NOT in fact related to other magpies at all and are actually butcherbirds instead of corvids is very annoying

[artharakka]

Kehrä is a god or goddess of strategy, plots, and magic. A character for a project “Butcherbirds”.

She appears sometimes as a human, sometimes as a lynx, and sometimes as a mixture of both. Her symbol is two squares connected by their corners to form a figure eight or a symbol of infinity. Her realm is a deep purple night sky filled with stars and magic.

Her aid is often sought by desperate political and military leaders, ambitious scholars — and even by some who call themselves mages or witches. But if one manages to get her attention, they must be careful that they are dealing with the right god. For there is another god who uses the face of a lynx: Surma, the trickster god of chaos and storm.

Kehrä prizes knowledge and wisdom, but her favours to the mortals are often unnoticeable. She thinks her gifts must be earned through hard work, experience, and research. She has learned that divine knowledge should not be used by humans in their personal pursuits and wars, and those who ask her aid are often ignored as undeserving. Those who ask too much, are cursed to be sirens, mythical creatures who know everyone’s desires and, with promises of their fulfillment, lure the other greedy mortals to their demise in the rocky islands and shoals.

She has a more personal reason to keep the divine knowledge sealed away as well. Long ago, she aided mortals more readily and took a smart and ambitious boy as her apprentice. He studied and he learned and finally, he found a path to the realms of the gods. He tricked his way past the island of the dead, beyond the fiery and barren realm of Tuulikki and Marshes of Valkea. Through the Woods of Korpi and the Sea of Salvia. And as he made his way through those realms, he collected all the secrets of the gods into a single book.

When he arrived at the doors of Kehrä, she realized her mistake and closed her gates from the boy who usurped her place. But the mistake had already been made and the young man became a god. The new god, Surma, carved his realm of chaos and storm at the threshold of Kehrä’s realm where he still resides among the other gods.

[daily-fun-animal-facts]

Butcherbirds

Butcherbirds are insect eaters for the most part, but will also feed on small lizards and other vertebrates. They get their name from their habit of impaling captured prey on a thorn, tree fork, or crevice. This "larder" is used to support the victim while it is being eaten, to store prey for later consumption, or to attract mates.

[thalassarche]

Australian Magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen) - photo by Greg Oakley

Australian magpies are not close relatives of the European magpie or any other corvids, so their name is another case of colonizers naming something local after something similar to it from where they came from. In the case of these magpies, it’s the pattern of black patches with white (and very light grey) patches that corvid magpies and Australian magpies have in common. Australian magpies have a reputation for their extremely territorial behavior during nesting season, where they will divebomb any potential threat to their nest/chicks, including humans. This “swooping” is usually more startling than dangerous, but can result in injuries that draw blood, and there have even been some rare cases of broken limbs and even deaths attributed to swooping magpies that caused a crash on a bike or similar accident. The dawn and dusk calls of Australian magpies are much more melodious than those of corvid magpies.