Shrikes are evolution in action. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (or “CLoO!” as probably no one calls it), “[The shrike] is a songbird with a raptor’s habits”. Basically, it likes to eat meat, but it doesn’t have talons, so it swoops down to grab a little lizard or something, then skewers it on things like barbed wire, cactus thorns, etc so it can eat it without holding on to its prey.

I may never get a photo of one hunting, but I am glad to have gotten a photo this good of one sitting.