Nature at its most brutal

A grisly but interesting photo of a Loggerhead Shrike feeding on the head of a Curve-billed Thrasher. These shrikes are ferocious birds known for their habit of impaling prey on sharp objects for later consumption. Curve-billed Thrashers are around 50% bigger than Loggerhead Shrikes, so I wonder if another predator dispatched the thrasher, and perhaps the shrike just took the remains.

From Patagonia Lake State Park in Arizona on January 13th, 2021. Full resolution image here.