Readers React: Spotting a rare loggerhead shrike in the Mojave

To the editor: The bird in the photo that accompanied your article appears to be a loggerhead shrike. (“Rowdy input on desert plan,” Oct. 14) These are uncommon birds; in fact, in 52 years of living in Southern California, having searched for them many times, I have never seen one.

If The Times’ Don Bartletti was able to capture a loggerhead shrike in his photo, taken inside the Mojave National Preserve, then it demonstrates the preserve’s importance. In this case, a picture is indeed worth a thousand words.

Crista Worthy, Boise, Ida.

(Editor’s note: Bartletti reports that on the day he made the photograph, June 10, 2015, David Lamfrom of the Mojave National Preserve Conservancy confirmed the identification of the bird.)

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