98:15:38 is serious 
     
    
   
   
    
     The Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus) is the only exclusively 
     
     North American species of a largely Afrotropical family of birds. Although 
     
     generally regarded as a full species, some authorities regard it as a race 
     
     of the similar Northern or Great Gray Shrike (L. excubitor), the only 
     
    

    
     ’ ‘? other shrike found in Canada. In 
     
     ' Canada, it is primarily a breeding 
     
     bird of the prairie portion of the 
     
     prairie provinces and of the agri- 
     
     cultural belt south of the Great 
     
     Canadian Shield in southeastern 
     
     Ontario, southern Quebec and New 
     
     Brunswick, with few records in 
     
     British Columbia and rare nesting 
     
     in Nova Scotia. 
     
    

    
     It's decline in Ontario was noted about 
     
     the same time that the blue list of North 
     
     American birds showing non—cyclical declines 
     
     was first published, a list on which the spe- 
     
    

    
     cies appeared annually, with declines as sharp 
     
    

    
     as 70% reported insome areas. Recent analyses 
     
    

    
     of Christmas Bird Count data and Breeding Bird 
     
    

    
     “I Survey data have strongly supported the "blue list" desig— 
     
    

    
     ' nation for North America as a whole, with minor bright spots 
     
    

    
     '5 in southern and western portions of its range in the U.S. A 
     
    

    
     recent status study in Canada recommended that it be classed as 
     
     Threatened in Canada, a designation adopted by the Committee on 
     
    

    
     the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) in April 1986. 
     
    

    
     Documentation of such declines in Canada relies primarily on Breeding 
     
     Bird Survey data and impressions of regional experts. The stronghold of 
     
     their breeding population in Canada remains on the prairies, where im— 
     
     pressions of a decline are widespread. In Alberta, the Edmonton Bird Study 
     
     Group listed the Loggerhead Shrike among species recommended for a pro— 
     
     vincial risk list, and although Breeding Bird Survey data from 1966 to 1979 
     
     did not show a significant decline in statistical terms, a comparison of 
     
     1972-1977 data with figures from 1978-1983 suggests sharp reductions in 
     
     both southern and central areas. In Saskatchewan, Breeding Bird Surveys 
     
     average the highest numbers of shrikes per route in Canada, but declines 
     
     are at a statistically significant level. In the Saskatchewan portion of 
     
     the Qu'Appelle Valley and deifinite decrease in numbers since about 1957 
     
     was noted. The one~bright spot on the prairies appears to be in the extreme 
     
     southeastern corner of Saskatchewan and southwestern corner of Manitoba. 
     
    

    
     Breeding bird survey data show a significant decline in Manitoba, 
     
     Ontario, and few birds are now even sighted annually in Quebec. 
     
    

    
     The species was evidently never common in the New Brunswick portion 
     
     of its breeding range and has not been recorded in the Breeding Bird Sur— 
     
     vey there in recent years. Its Nova Scotia range was at best very localized 
     
     and probably temporary. 
     
    

    
     The chief cause(s) of the steady decline of Loggerhead Shrikes remain 
     
     obscure today. The chief suspects appear to be loss of habitat and chemical 
     
     contamination, possibly in combination. Natural factors such as predation, 
     
    
   
   
    
         
     
         
     
       
     
         
     
        
     
       
     
    
   
   
    
     -13-