Come on baby, let's do the twist: the kinematics of killing in loggerhead shrikes. (30th September 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Sustaita, Diego; Rubega, Margaret A.; Farabaugh, Susan M.
• Is Part Of: Biology letters. Volume 14:Number 9(2018)
• Publication Date: 2018-09-30
• Subjects: feeding -- Lanius -- prey immobilization -- shrike; Biology -- Periodicals; 570.5
• DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2018.0321
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1744-9561

Abstract

Abstract : Shrikes use their beaks for procuring, dispatching and processing their arthropod and vertebrate prey. However, it is not clear how the raptor-like bill of this predatory songbird functions to kill vertebrate prey that may weigh more than the shrike itself. In this paper, using high-speed videography, we observed that upon seizing prey with their beaks, shrikes performed rapid (6–17 Hz; 49–71 rad s −1 ) axial head-rolling movements. These movements accelerated the bodies of their prey about their own necks at g -forces of approximately 6 g, and may be sufficient to cause pathological damage to the cervical vertebrae and spinal cord. Thus, when tackling relatively large vertebrates, shrikes appear to use inertia of their prey's own body against them.