Even innocent-looking animals in Ontario's hinterland can be merciless killing machines, like a seemingly harmless songbird species that is known to brutally impale its victims — to the point where it has earned the nickname of "butcherbird."

The northern shrike (Lanius borealis) is just one of a handful of harmles-looking — heck, even cute — animal species with a dangerous secret that call Ontario home. It may look friendly, but its bloody hunting habits and carnivorous diet tell a very different story.

Native to a wide range extending across North America and Siberia, the northern shrike includes six subspecies. The bird was long considered to be a subspecies of the great grey shrike, only earning a distinct classification in 2017.

These six subspecies include two in North America: the Lanius borealis borealis subspecies found in the Hudson Bay region spanning Ontario and Quebec, and the Lanius borealis invictus subspecies spanning from northern Alberta to northern Alaska, with a potential range extending into eastern Siberia.

The two North American subspecies specifically have taken on the moniker of "butcherbirds" due to their gruesome habit of impaling victims on anything from thorns to the spikes of fences — a trait they share with the related loggerhead shrike that also calls the continent home.

You're most likely to see these birds camped out atop tree branches or tall poles, patiently searching for their next meal.

While the northern shrike will feed on standard prey for an avian species like small arthropods and vertebrates, they are also known to prey on small mammals, lizards, and even other passerine bird species.

In a particularly horrifying break from typical songbird vocal functions like seeking a mate or signaling location to other birds, the so-called butcherbird has been known to lure in other species of small bird by mimicking their calls, only to violently strike when their unsuspecting victims answer these calls.