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CEDAR WAXWING
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Waxwings usually congregate in
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| photos © 2003 & 2005 Melissa Whitmire | |
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Cedar Waxwing on Pyracantha March, 2009 Photo by Louise Brown |
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Introduction: The elegant and charming Cedar Waxwings are nomadic birds, following their primary food sources, fruiting shrubs and trees, as in season. They are usually seen in flocks, sometimes up to a couple of hundred birds, but move around in smaller groups as they dart from tree to tree, searching for ripe berries. What to Look For: · Sleek, medium-sized crested bird, with overall gray brown plumage · Adults have sharp black facemask edged with white, and black chin-patch · Pale yellow belly-feathers · Bills small, wings pointed and tail square with distinct yellow band at terminal tip · Calls are very high pitched "bzeee" notes · Sexes differ little Where to Look: · Nests in open woods and fields with fruiting shrubs and trees · In migration they flock and seek out ripe fruits, including mulberry, cedar, pyracantha, American holly · In winter in open woodlands, parks, gardens and often in suburban areas with ornamental shrubs Range & Habitat: · Summer range is a wide horizontal band across Canada and US border extending to central US, especially prevalent in the eastern part of the US. · In winter they spread over most of the continental US, numbers far greater in the eastern half. · Frequent habitats with water and open woodland that support fruiting shrubs and trees. Diet: · Fruits of trees and shrubs like mulberries, cedar, holly pyracantha, cherry, etc. · They are also excellent insect catchers and can be seen “flycatching” · Insects eaten include carpenter ants, cicadas, caterpillars, scale insects and cankerworms. Lifespan: · On an average, they live one to two years. · Maximum natural life span of 7 years has been recorded Courtship & Nesting: · Courtship begins during spring migration · Birds will often pass a berry back and forth from bill to bill · Nests are a bulky, open cup made of twigs, grasses, mosses, pine needles, and other materials, lined with finer fibers, hair and spider webs. · The nest can be located anywhere from 6 - 50 feet above ground in a shade tree, conifer tree or even a shrub on a horizontal limb or fork. · The eggs are pale blue-gray with small black spots. · They are late nesters, probably a because of their dietary reliance on summer-ripening fruits Did You Know? · The name "waxwing" comes from the waxy red appendages found in variable numbers on the tips of the secondaries of some birds, purpose not quite understood · It is one of the few temperate dwelling birds that specializes in eating fruit. It can survive on fruit alone for several months. · It is vulnerable to alcohol intoxication and death after eating fermented fruit. · They often fly in formation, the whole group turning and looping in synchronized motion · An assemblage of waxwings is called an aristocracy. --This material compiled by members of the PBC Education Committee; Louise Brown, Beth Bursuck, Dan Chambers, Judi Durr, Jean Murdick, Emily Tyler, Mary Woodrow and Melissa Whitmire |
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