Blessington Store has been chosen by the Kingston Field Naturalists and the Napanee Recovery Action Group to assist the Loggerhead Shrike Recovery Team in educating its community on the declining population of Eastern Loggerhead Shrikes. The Eastern Loggerhead Shrike is protected under the federal Migratory Birds Convention Act of 1917, the provincial Endangered Species Act, and the new federal Species at Risk Act.
The Eastern Loggerhead Shrike is both a songbird and a bird of prey. It is slightly smaller than a robin. It has a gray-white breast, a bluish-gray back, a black tail and black wings marked with prominent white patches. A raccoon-like black face mask extends across the eyes and around to the back of the head.
Only about 100 Eastern Loggerhead Shrikes now exist in Canada. They
are most likely to be found in these widely separated areas:
- In southeast Manitoba, on the northern outskirts of
Winnipeg
- In Ontario, on the Napanee Plain, the Carden Plain, the
Smiths Falls Plain, Grey and Bruce counties and Manitoulin Island
- In Quebec, in the Outaouais region just north of Ottawa
The region where Blessington Store is located, the Napanee Limestone Plain, is home to Canada’s largest population of shrikes and has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) due to its significant share of an endangered bird population.
When visiting Blessington Store please take time to read the display describing the "Birds of the Napanee Limestone Plain IBA" and the efforts involved in saving the shrike. We would like to thank Chris Grooms and the Kingston Field Naturalists for their great work on this eye-popping display.
For more information on this endangered species and what you can do to help protect this unique bird, please visit http://www.shrike.ca. Also, check out our local newspapers for more information on the Napanee Limestone Plain, the eastern loggerhead shrike, and Blessington Store.