Lately we have been going out in the morning to meet hundreds of Cedar Waxwings. They stay for at least an hour high in the trees as they all gather to sun themselves as the day breaks... Their one note high pitched song becomes louder and louder as their numbers increase...
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This is only one section of 2 trees in back
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They find the berries and take turns eating at the shrub in the corner of the back yard... They all couldn't fit in there at once, believe me!
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Very well mannered they are!
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Final pic... I was wondering who was going to eat all those berries! In spring this privet was covered with white blooms... There were many winged visitors to it at that time too, including many species of butterflies. In fall it turned to berries and they are beginning to ripen. The birds love it because it never loses all of it's leaves being an evergreen. A Sharp-shinned Hawk even tried to hide in it yesterday to no avail... Birds around here are getting too smart for that ole gag.
Great pics debnes; I'm looking forward to seeing them in the Spring.
Wow Deb...those are great pics. I've never seen one and wonder if they will be in my area this spring? We have lots of cedar trees!
They don't actually eat cedar seeds at all - the "cedar" in the name is an old error for juniper, which they do eat.
Resin
Found this:
During the winter, cedar waxwings eat fruit almost exclusively. They rely heavily on cedar berries, especially in the northern part of their range. The birds take the fruit from the tree by holding on to a branch and plucking it off with their beaks. They do this sitting upright or dangling upside-down. They also can remove the fruit from the tree while hovering.
During the summer months, cedar waxwings switch to eating mostly insects. Often, the waxwings will catch their prey by congregating around ponds and streams and waiting for the insects to emerge from the water. Most of the time, they snatch their prey right out of the air. They also glean bark and forage through tree branches for insects.
Here:
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Bombycilla_cedrorum.html
wow, u r soo lucky to see those elegant birds. we get them here on Long Island, New York, but i have never seen so many.
Recently, we did have the beautiful Bohemian waxwings here on Long Island.
They were mentioned on the Audubon Society's rare Bird Alert, becuse they certainly didn't belong this far east! i did not not get a chance to see any of them, though, unfortunately ( no car to get to locations).
Bird watching is another of my fave hobbies, along with sewing.
happy birding to you all in the new year ( Happy sewing to all seam stresses, too :)
Thanks Rose and Pelle!!~
Interesting about the name Resin :-) I was actually wondering about that, ty!
Good stuff Judy!
Yep when they are here in winter, berries are their main food. They eat and digest the whole fruits, and instead of spitting out the pits like many other birds do. Hence they plant many species of berries all over the south! At this time of year they make rounds at least twice a day. Now they stay longer since a good crop of berries were produced from all the rain (60 inches!!).we had this year,
I was commenting to my friend at Wild Bird Center today about how considerate they are, and she said when there are only a few clusters of fruit on a tree or shrub, some birders have observed them taking one and passing it down the line to the others. The first in line becomes a servant to the rest. They are the truest of gregarious birds I have ever seen. The strength of the whole flock is dependent on the selflessness of the individuals. It's a beautiful thing!
debnes
Thanks fitgrad! I have seen good flock of them through the years, but personally never this many either! That's something about the Bohemian WW... I wonder what is causing their decline and the shift all the way to Long Island. Maybe someone can tell us here.
debnes
Thats odd. At the Cornell site it says their numbers are Stable or Increasing.
Maybe she means its just a rare bird for that area.
Well, now I know why I have seen no Cedar Waxwings. You have them all. Maybe they will be here soon. Lots of berries, which they spent a week cleaning out last year. Great shots!
trois.
Very good info Resin and Judy. I found out that they are in Mo. year around and they eat the blue berries on our Eastern Red-Cedar (Juniperus virginiana) They are here year-round though less abundant in the Summer, and not as many in So. W where I live. That being said...I will be on the lookout for them when I walk in the woods!! How exciting to think I may get to see one, or two or dozens at a time!!
Deb...that is so sweet...reminds me of the animals in "Wind in the Willows"! So well mannered and kind to each other!!
This is great...another bird to look forward to!!
We have lots of Cedar Waxwings and Robins here now, you see them mostly in trees and in flight....and there are berries everywhere for them to harvest.
Thanks for all the beautiful pictures. I was going to post at the pleasurable day I had yesterday then found this. I didn't get any pictures but had the company of many WaxWings and Robins yesterday feeding on the berries( and probably insects) of the Hollies in my backyard and then using the birdbath for a drink of fresh water. They were everywhere much to my delight! I don't recall seeing the WW but once here in Va. and only 4 times in my life that I knew what they were. The Red Bellied Woodpeckers fed at the suet feeder and Grackles decided to push the doves away from the birdbath to enjoy a splash. Many other species of birds seemed to be attracted to the activity and fed at the feeders. I couldn't get any housework done for watching all the activity in the yard. Today is is very quiet out there.........no visitors.
LOL, oh yes it definitely gets in the way of Household chores!
Glad you had such a nice bird watching day!
I'm hopefully going to get this one half correct. It's a woodpecker? Perhaps red-bellied?
GG
You got it right GG!! Its a female Red-bellied Woodpecker.
Congratulations!!
Whoopie!! Thanks Pell.
Debnes, when I saw your post here Jan. 9, I was delighted to see that I could possibly see Cedar Waxwings (CW's) here where I live and they went straight to the top of the list of birds I'd love to see (well, okay maybe below Vermillion Flycatchers and Indigo Buntings).
Well, guess what I saw today! I had just gotten home from work at lunchtime and was enjoying my Pho Ga (Vietnamese Chicken soup) on the deck, watching the feeders. I only had enough hands to carry the camera OR the binocs out with me and it was a hard decision, but I decided the camera was a better choice. I started to hear a different birdsong and followed the sound to the top of the tree behind me. As soon as I saw it I knew it was a CW, but then I thought, "nah, it's probably a female cardinal" but it really was a CW! I did get some pics of it and that's how I confirmed what it was (it was pretty far) but they aren't great. I'll post them here after I take them off the camera, probably tomorrow.
Then later when the kids got home, we went to Brushy Creek Lake Park and I saw lots of birds I hadn't seen yet (at least since I've been paying attention) so I have to get those pics off the camera and first see if I can ID them myself, but I'm sure I'll be picking Pelle and Resin's and OldNed's brains on some of them. My girls enjoyed feeding some ducks (one beautiful Mallard I took lots of close-ups of) and they learned a little about birding. We saw some seagulls, I think! I didn't know they would be this far inland, but I guess at least it was over a lake.
What a great day!
Congratulations Peeper!
I know how you feel because I saw my first CW's last Spring and I was so excited!
I'm so glad you had such a wonderful day! Its great to have the kids involved too!
Yes Peeper!
How fun was that!!! You could hear the one note sound and you just knew there was something there... It is unmistakable to me now, my ears are tuned. Yours will be too. http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Cedar_Waxwing.html#sound
When there are lots of them the sound is louder and unbroken. It is how the flock stays together.
You will often see flocks of Robins traveling with them bc they both eat berries in winter here in the south. When they return north they go back to eating insects. I had at least 10-15 Robins with them the other day. Some of the Robins decided to stick around when the CWWs moved on to make their rounds.
Congrats on seeing them! You and I should be getting most of the same birds.
:-)
Here's my pic. Not great, but you can definitely see what it is!
Yes Deb, it's an unmistakable note. After he flew off I heard him again but couldn't locate him.
Well, I will definitely be planting lots of berry-bearing shrubs this year to try to attract more of them! I already have several Yaupons I planted this year and junipers are all over the place. I had also already planned to put in some coralberries. Any other suggestions?
Thats a nice shot Peeper!
