Reproductive success and nesting habitat of the loggerhead shrike in north-central South Carolina.

Breeding Loggerhead Shrikes (Lank ludovicianus) were studied in the Piedmont physiographic region of north-central South Carolina during the breeding seasons of 1986 and 1987. Sixty-three percent of shrike nests were in red cedar (Juniperus virginiana). Shrikes nesting in red cedar fledged one more young per nest than did shrikes nesting in other trees. First nests were significantly lower and somewhat closer to the trunk of the nest tree than were second nests, suggesting that climatic effects during the nesting season affected nest placement. Within 100 m of shrike nests, short-grass habitats (e.g., pasture, hay fields, and residential lawns) predominated, comprising, on average, more than 80% of the area. Short vegetation around nests may result in increased prey availability. The relatively high reproductive success of Loggerhead Shrikes in this study is similar to that reported by researchers elsewhere, and it does not explain the recent decline in shrike populations in the region.