Lord Shrike the Impaler
Move over, Vlad. Here's the greatest villain of all time!
The most legendary Bollywood villains have their own god: Lord Shrike the Impaler! Infamous for skewering its victims on thorns and barbed wire, that range from insects and lizards to snakes and mice, the bandit-like eye stripe further accentuates the shrike's reputation. But beyond being a cold-blooded murderer, the shrike is a very effective controller of agricultural pests!
My fascination for this bird extends across all my work now, with the shrike featuring in two of my books, Bird Business and Naturalist Ruddy!
(For my readers who are unfamiliar with vintage Hindi cinema, Gabbar Singh (played by Amjad Khan) from the film Sholay, Shakaal (played by Khulbhushan Kharbanda) from the film Shaan, and Mogambo (played by Amrish Puri) from the film Mr. India, are three of the most iconic Hindi film villains of all time).
How many shrike species have you seen? Let me know in the comments. I’ve spotted the Isabelline, Long-tailed, Grey-backed, Bay-backed, Southern Grey, Brown, Burmese shrikes in India, some flycatcher-shrikes in South-east Asia, and a few bushshrikes of South Africa so far, like the Tchhagras, Puffbacks, Boubous, Bokmakierie and the gorgeous Magpie Shrike.
Cartoon from my column with Roundglass Sustain.
Even the name Shrike is close to the word 'shriek' so it's fitting. We only had one lone male Loggerhead Shrike where I live in Ontario, Canada but it's now a new housing development. Provincial governments put housing ahead of just about everything. We're trying though!
Thank you for your sense of humour! It's dark but needed.
Vlad the Impaler indeed! I am similarly fascinated by these birds. Since you asked, I have seen the Bay-backed, Southern Grey, Isabelline, Grey-backed, Long-tailed, and Grey-backed Shrikes so far.