pelletory wants Cedar Waxwings!

And from page 158,
"The unique, eccentric cedar waxwing, or cedarbird, is largely a native of the United States. It nests in our northern states and Canada and winters in the South. Another and somewhat larger species, the Bohemium waxwing, inhabits the northern parts of the continent and comes into the states only to a limited extent. Information on the Bohemium's food habits is slight but seems to follow the pattern of the cedar waxwing.

Fleshy fruits constitute nearly nine-tenths of the cedarbird's food. And in the Northeast, cedar berries are the outstanding staple.

Animal Food: The chief items of animal diet are beetles, ants and other Hymemoptera, flies, bugs, caterpillars, grasshoppers, crickets, and Mayflies.

Plant Food:
Northeast, 156 (17-38-60-41) plus observtions
*****Redcedar FWso
***Cherry, Wild SuF
**Dogwood, Flowering FW
*Blackberry Su
*Hackberry W
*Chokeberry W
*Red Mulberry SpSu
*Serviceberry Su
*Viburnum, Blackhaw F
*Pokeweed F
*Grape
+Elderberry, Ragweed, Holly, Barberry, Blackgum, Poison-ivy, Greenbrier, Ash"

Once comment, skip the Barberry mentioned above. I quoted from the book and they added it but not a good idea to add that particular plant to a NA Wildlife Garden.

Also, the bold and the italics I added because the book had it. I just don't want anyone to think I'm shouting. I know a lot of people really get turned off by bold type. Sorry,it was in the book.

The book had some nice suggestions but I think we can do better than that. Time to surf the net!

How about juniper, mountain ash, pyracantha, mistletoe, grapes, strawberries, red mulberry, and yew. They never seem to be far from water, maybe a pond or a birdbath?

I think Mountain Ash is really nice. I wonder why it's not in more gardens?

The American Moutain Ash (Sorbus americana) would be great but I think that's a little big for her and aside from that, most people end up buying the readily available European Mountain Ash (Sorbus aucuparia) which is more than a little weedy and has naturalized in 20 states-
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=SOAU

Pyracantha spp. are all introduced species like the European Mountain Ash. Birds may like them but they're not the greatest choice. A little bit on the large size anyway. And it's common name isn't Fireweed for nothing ;)

The growth habits of American Mistletoe aren't going to be all that appealing for this application. They're parasitic. The American Mistletoes are great in their own right but she'd need a host plant.

Grapes and strawberries could be offered on a patio table along with apple slices.

Excellent suggestion of a water feature. Birds love water.

Another excellent suggestion was Red Mulberry tree for almost any Wildlife Gardener. Morus rubra are critter magnets for people who have some space, and the fruits never last long enough to be a nuisance. I planted three straight species Red Mulberries just for the birds. I'm really excited about having added those but I have a little bit more space I think.

Juniperus virginiana = Redcedar
Too many Yews out there and most aren't native and I don't think any are indigenous to her area not even the Eastern Yew (Taxus canadensis). There is a Western Yew (Taxus brevifolia) which is a great native plant but not for us.

EEk, pelletory... are you a him or a her. Sorry about that if you are a him.

Its okay I'm a her. Just got out of bed for a glass of water and had to peek in,lol. Thanks for all your help, I can't wait to look up all these different suggestions. Gotta get back to bed, work tomorrow. Nite.

I just found a few things online that make Cedar Waxwings very attractive to me, "Feeding Preferences
The Cedar Waxwing is a voracious eater. The Cedar Waxwing's primary diet consists of berries, flower petals and insects. During the Summer they dine on elm leaf beetles, weevils, carpenter ants, sawfly larvae, flies, cicadas, scale insects, and caterpillars. Ripe berries provide food in the Fall and Winter. Cedar Waxwings have been known to sit in a row on a berry bush and pass a berry or insect between one another!"

Oh baby! They eat carpenter ants, sawfly larvae, and scale insects!

At the same site I found this, "Offer chopped or sliced apples, raisins or currants on a platform feeder. They are difficult to entice to a feeder, but once they notice it they will consume large quantities!"

And, "In the spring, during nesting season, they will readily use wool, string, hair or other nesting materials set out by humans. Offer these nesting materials in the bark of a tree or a suet cage."

From this website we can add that they love cankerworms-
http://www.birdnature.com/waxwing.html
"Natural Feeding Habits:
This bird's diet in the summer is mostly insects such as carpenter ants, cicadas, caterpillars, scale insects and it just loves cankerworms. They also eat cherries and berries, sap from maple trees, flowers from pecan and apple trees. The young are fed insects and within a few days fruit is added to their diet."

Umm, yum yum, cankerworms!

Nightie night pelletory.

Here's something to knock you out of your socks and spill your coffee tomorrow morning-
http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/159/_/Cedar_Waxwing.aspx
Click on the audio to their "song", nice and shrill.

Here's another good morning America wake up call-
http://www.junglewalk.com/popup.asp?type=a&AnimalAudioID=1822

Here's my top two shrub picks if I could only have two and I lived in New Jersey-
1) Silky Dogwood (Cornus obliqua) or Round Leaf Dogwood (Cornus rugosa)
2) Chokeberry (Photinia floribunda) or Round Leaf Serviceberry (Amelanchier sanguinea) or Dwarf Hackberry (Celtis tenuifolia)

Yes, I cheated a little bit in picking two. Does two categories count?

Neat article on Dogwoods-
http://landscaping.about.com/cs/treesshrubs/a/dogwood_trees.htm

Wow you were busy last night Equil! I'll be sure to read all this when I get home from work. Thank You!

I've been interested in Cedar Waxwings myself. I see them around here from time to time but they're not a feeder bird so they're always in the distance for me. I've heard of people building platforms to offer them apple slices and that's something I might try if I could get a baffle on a feeding station to keep the squirrels off. It was interesting to find that website that stated they could be offered raisins and currants as well as apple slices. I'd like to know what people who attract them are putting out for them in addition to those three.

It was my girlfriend April who first pointed out their shrill call to me. She and I were walking around outside and she commented that I had Cedar Waxwings. I looked around for them and didn't see any and she told me to listen. That was the first time I paid attention to their call. It sounds like the links I posted above. Very high pitched and shrill. Cheerful enough but it is shrill which is why I was giggling to myself when I posted those links I found thinking of you crawling out of bed and sitting in front of your computer with coffee to wake up. You'll see what I mean when you come home from work and have a chance to listen to the audio.

I probably shouldn't have tossed the Dwarf Hackberry (Celtis tenuifolia) in for you as a suggestion. It gets about 15' tall like a Blackhaw Viburnum (Viburnum prunifolium). Some Viburnum get pretty big for a shrub when people may be thinking more along the lines of a plant that is around 6' or so.

Although I've never seen a Cedar Waxwing take nest materials we have offered here, I have seen other birds snatch and grab so it was good to run into the suggestion to offer nest materials. Lots of materials can be put out. I haven't done that in quite a few years but it was fun when we did it. I had been working on a few sewing projects so we let the kids use my left over fabrics to cut into thin strips. I think I let them stuff that into left over fruit tree netting but maybe it was the netting some sports equipment came in. Too long to remember but what ever we used was a large enough weave like the suet cages mentioned above for birds to be able to pull out what they wanted easily. Birds took the fabric scraps. I recall looking around the next fall after the leaves had dropped and spotting a few nests that were gayly colored. Sort of puts a smile on your face when you see the very same greens from throw pillows you made appearing in trees. Probably an entire new thread unto itself because it was fun watching the birds taking materials.

Have a nice day at work.

They sure seem to molest the mulberry trees whenever I see them.

One problem with them for her though, they grow to 40' and not everyone has space for that kind of a tree. I did get myself three of them. I have wanted them for a very long time because I have also noticed that birds wipe the fruit out as fast as it ripens.

Al, do you have a Morus rubra? Mine are only about 3' tall and won't be established for another few years.

I think serviceberry may be a good choice, that is where I first saw
a cedar waxwing. Around a feeder is
where I saw another, I think my neighboor uses orange slices for orioles. I will check on this. The
indigo bunting is another bird that
seems to be attracted to a feeder.

You have Indigo Buntings up there? You lucky duck you! I've only had one here and have never seen one since.

Yes, Serviceberry is a great choice.

Lauren,
I pulled out all the mulberry volunteers along the foundation here :) My parents have a nice behaved 40'er. I know there too big really for her. Do they eat sambucus? I don't recall.
I don't have any morus rubra - what do they look like?

Oh speaking of mulberry.......the neighbors have a nice size one coming up at their foundation. How do I tell which kind it is? It looks like it's been weed whacked a few times, but is now probably about 15 ft tall.

Hey Al, I suspect your Mulberry volunteers were White Mulberry (Morus alba). No one has been selling Morus rubra around here for eons it seems. I bought mine from Darrell Kromm of Reeseville Ridge Nursery-
http://davesgarden.com/gwd/c/2372/
Winderful nursery and I was absolutely thrilled with everything I purchased from them.

Terry, real quick primer here-
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/616219/
and here for more detail-
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/617620/

There were the white ones, I can always tell be the golden bark - sort of like forsythia's. I was able to dig down and remove enough of the roots. Otherwise it would be Garlon for them to kill them off.

Figures. The plant popping up by Terry is probably a white one too.

I haven't noticed a difference in the color of the bark. This coming year when you are out and about can you share some photos please? Perhaps I waste them too fast to notice once I determine they are alba as opposed to rubra.

of white mulberry? I could get that this week for you I'm sure

anyway - to help with your topic, I have never seen waxwings nesting - do they nest in colonies too then? what type of trees/sites do they choose





this was my house with the volunteers as purchased.

You've got a big huge front porch! I've always wanted one of those in a nice family neighborhood like yours where I could sit there and watch what was going on. You've done a considerable amount of work to your home since you moved in. You're neighbors must worship the ground you walk on with the curb appeal you created.

Redcedar and Maples are preferred. Another reason why I want to focus on adding several Sugar Maples here this coming year. They're a woodland edge species for lack of a better way to describe them. Highly social birds and they will nest in close proximity. And don't think you're out of the running being able to attract them to your property if you live in a residential area. They may not nest by you but I'm told they will stop in for snacks once they know they're available.

Forgot to mention that I don't know whether they eat Sambucus or not. I've got Elderberry here but it's over to the north of my property and I've never paid attention to what strips them of fruit. The Cedar Waxwings probably would eat it. It is a berry. I know they definitely eat the berries off our ever hated poison ivy. I know I am weird but I leave a few poison ivy vines on the property for the birds. Most I remove because of the kids but it is a native plant and it does fill a niche. I wouldn't plant any poison ivy by you though, that would be asking for one of your kids to come in with a nice big festering rash while doing cartwheels on your lawn and right into that kind of a bird vine.

The front porch is nice, I enjoy it most in late winter and early spring since it is warmer then. I realy don't have much for birds nesting here. Some house sparrows and we had a robin trying to nest on this too narrow ledge so I put up a platform there and they didn't come back. After they failed on that ledge the actually succeeded on building one 20' up on the end of a long branch - must have been rookies ;) Nothing nesting in my cockspur hawthorne yet either.

Hey the whole family went birding today as we went down to the lake to look for a very rare bird here
http://www.birdinfo.com/Slaty-backedGull.html#Distribution
I saw it last week, the ice is gone now and we couldn't find it.

Equil, look up ninebark maple. We have them everywhere at work and they are also native. I have been told birds and other wildlife love them. I bought one this past fall by accident. Thought it was a tree til someone told me it was a shrub. lol. Don't regret it though. It's nice cover for the wildlife.

You went looking specifically for Larus schistisagus? No kidding.

Say Pepper, I am totally unfamiliar with any plant called a Ninebark Maple. You got me on that one. I'd have to have you give me the Latin name before I could comment. Is it the common name of a Japanese Maple maybe?

It's a shrub that is native to North America. Give me a minute and I might find one.

I'm guessing acer ginnala

Yeah the slaty's been there for over a month - I saw it. Also saw a bald eagle on the lake the same day.

Thanks for all the info Equil! Can you recommend a site that gives good photos w/ proportions of different ones? Please don't go to any trouble, just when you have time.Thanks, Pelle

Ok. Try this link. www.answers.com/topic/physocarpus

OK, now I got you. That's no Maple at all. I've got those here all over the place. You're thinking Eastern Ninebark which is Physocarpus opulifolius and is definitely a NA native and oddly enough it's not listed at the link you shared. Great plant pepper! And yes, great for birds and the Cedar Waxwings would probably like those too. Another one I planted over here en masse that is great for birds (not Cedar Waxwings) is the American Hazelnut (Corylus americana).

Yeah, Eastern Ninebark. I can never remember the Eastern part. lol. That link was the only non-nursery link I could find.

you can use nursery links you know

LOL, I know but if I go in there then I'll start drooling, then I'll start yelling for the credit card so I can buy a whole bunch of plants that I can't plant yet. So if it says nursery I stay out of them for my own safety. LOL

that's fine, you know you really need to face your fears to overcome them.LOL

there are forums that don't allow commercial links

Ha ha ha! Face your fears! So that's what I've been doing all these years! Facing my fears!

It's dark out now, but tomorrow I'll look. I'm afraid I won't see any leaves but I'll look at the bark. I shall look for the golden bark. Hmmm......I wonder if they'll let me chop the thing down if it's a white one? The lady of the house did say she wanted my dear hubby to come landscape her yard when he was done here.....lol.......

Pelletory ..

We have flocks of the Cedar Waxwings year-round, here in the NW corner of Arkansas.

We can easily 'run up' on them, on the top areas of our property .. where they're usually feasting on the various berries that grow on several types of vines, that grow up into the trees. They don't necessarily fly 'away' .. they jes scoot up to top of the trees until we pass on by or we leave out from where they're feeding. Sometimes, they'll continue to hop about and feed .. as long as we are still and stay quiet.

The top portion of our property is pretty much wild growth. We have a couply different trails that go to our spring; and this is when we see/hear them most frequently.

I've yet to ID the vines/berries, along with my not yet being able to fetch a decent photo of the birds, either! Such a sweet, sweet 'murmury' song they sing while feeding ..

In early Fall .. the CWW's visit and feed on the bluish/grey berries of the Black(?) Gum trees. At this time tho' .. they've got a bit of competition from the Flickers, Pilleateds, and Blue Birds.

Here lately, however .. they've been visiting closer to the house, in/about the large, tall Oak & Hickory trees. They seem to be interested in insects that are in/on the trees. They'll dip and flit about relatively low from the tree branches, so we can tell they're after some sorta bugs - very similar to how the flycatchers will dart out and snag a bug in mid-air. We've had only one significant snowfall thus far, and the temps are unusually warm right now - so there's no telling what species of bugs, etc. they're finding.

At any rate .. I wanta wish you the best of luck in being able to attract them. And when you do - enjoy!!

- Mapgye

Ahh, water. All birds love water sounds. Nice you have a spring. I don't have much luck photographing birds myself. I do much better when my target is sleeping or stuck putting up with me and my camera such as babies in a nest.

Thanks Mags, I can't imagine having so much wildlife like you do right outside your door. It must be wonderful. I would be so excited to wake up every morning to see what wildlife awaited. BTW, I've so much enjoyed all your posts and pics since becoming a member here.