The clearest difference between the two shrikes is the speed of their 
wingbeats, which isn't mentioned in Sibley's blog post.  I grew up in NC 
at a time when Loggerheads were relatively common there, and when I 
first saw a Northern the difference was clear to me.

I was able to find a video of the Loggerhead Shrike flying a short 
distance, at about 39 sec into the video at
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiRgtCJpjCQ&NR=1>.  Although the flight 
is short, it seems quite characteristic to me.  The video was shot in 
Florida, so the identification seems safe enough.  I also found a 
Northern Shrike in brief flight, at 48 sec. into
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9pCrCSWtxk>.  I'm not sure that a 
comparison of the two is really enough to show the difference, but they 
are worth a look.  I do wish they were a bit longer.

On 12/31/2010 6:46 PM, Matt Hafner wrote:
> Hey everyone,
>
>
> Several of us were at Pickering today looking at the shrike for about an hour.  The bird was distant for most of the time, but several of us commented on how much the bird reminded us of recent Loggerhead Shrike in NY that was discussed extensively on ID-Frontiers.  David Sibley wrote a blog post about the bird here:  http://www.sibleyguides.com/2010/12/a-perplexing-shrike/
>
>
> I'm not (yet) advocating that this bird is a Loggerhead, but that I hope everyone is taking a good hard look at this bird and making their own notes.  I know a few people got decent photos today that will hopefully bring more information to the table.
>
>
> Other highlights today birding with John Hubbell, Dan Small, and Zach Baer:
>
>
> - a juvenile Golden Eagle perched at Pickering Creek found by Tom Feild and Geraldine King
> - Lincoln's and Tree Sparrow at Terrapin Nature Park, found yesterday by Zach Baer
> - 2 Greater White-fronted Geese on Kingston Landing Rd in Talbot
>
>
>
> Good birding!
>
>
> Matt Hafner
> Forest Hill, MD
>


-- 
Maurice Barnhill

Department of Physics and Astronomy
University of Delaware
Newark, DE 19716