Trend Results : Cedar Waxwings

Amazing Beauty of Waxwing Birds

Waxwings are a family (Bombycillidae) of passerine birds characterized by their soft, silky plummage. Some of the wing feathers have unique red tips where the shafts extend beyond the barbs; in the Bohemian and Cedar Waxwings, these tips look like sealing wax, and give the group its common name. 1. Show More Summary

Nandina – Poisonous to Cedar Waxwings

Q: Did you know that nandina berries are poisonous to cedar waxwings? A: A recent observation of mass death among cedar waxwings was followed by a veterinary necropsy. The doctors found huge amounts of nandina berries in the cedar waxwing bird’s crops. Feeding Behavior-Related Toxicity due to Nandina domestica in Cedar Waxwings I’ll leave it up to [...]

Animal Talk

Today, I’ve been surrounded by animal talk. It’s a glorious day – very warm for this time of year in Colorado. I had a window open and approximately 50 birds (mostly cedar waxwings and robins) were feasting on the berries produced by the tree in front of my house. The sounds of all those birds really got my cat going. Show More Summary

Random Cedar Waxwing

Copyright © October 15, 2012 by Sharon Stiteler the Birdchick™ The original post is here (Digital Fingerprint: abc96a9d9852a09719efcca3f5735525 (75.101.133.83) )

In the Halls of the Mountain Ash

It’s that time of year again. Sidewalks are speckled, cars are spattered. Flocks of Cedar Waxwings are buzzing everywhere, streaked juveniles mingling with creamy adults on their pilgrimages through the parks, gorging as they go. American Robins are coming up off the lawns to partake as well. In short, the berries are ripe, and I [...]

The Cedar Waxwings Diet Causes Them To Fly Drunk

A new report in the Journal of Ornithology reports that cedar waxwings are flying drunkenly to their deaths at an alarming rate due to their habit of gorging on berries. Here’s more on this drunken mayhem: Cedar waxwings have evolved to live on a diet that averages 84 per cent fruit. But those evolutionary innovations [...]

Local Birds Used to Get Drunk And Slam Into Windows, Study Says

Between 2005 and 2007, Angelenos noticed that almost entire flocks of cedar waxwings were slamming into their windows and fences in broad daylight. Residents sent them off to a lab to figure out why the heck the birds were dying en masse, and now a Journal of Ornithology study (via a New Scientist article) explains what happened. [ more › ]

Mad Science Friday: Birds Make Their Own Booze In Their Gullets

What’s weird in science this week? The cedar waxwing has, it’s been discovered, the ability to let berries ferment in its esophagus, making it a perpetual drunk. Climate change has [...]

Waxwing Slain by the False Azure in its Drunk Brain

New Scientist:After overindulging in berries, flocks of cedar waxwings flew drunkenly to their doom. That's the conclusion of a new report in the Journal of Ornithology. ...[T]he downfall of the flocks came from eating too many berries. Show More Summary

Cedar Waxwings Like Blueberries…

…much to the dismay of the folks in Florida growing blueberries commercially. a a

Cedar Waxwings; 3/25/2012

Worth a Thousand Words: Waxwing

Waxwing taken by Remo Savisaar Click through on the link to see more of his gorgeous photos of Waxwings in this setting. We call these Cedar Waxwings at our house. But the berry picking behavior is altogether familiar. There is nothing like seeing a flock of these beauties descend on a bush, twittering like crazy, and picking it clean in about ten minutes.

Annals of Off-Campus Life: Birding II

Consider, says David Barash, the unruffled neatness of a cedar waxwing.

Cedar Waxwing Courtship Behavior

Cedar Waxwing couple By: Pat Coate In May the Cattaraugus Bird Club had some outings at the Eschelman Tract of Pfeiffer Nature Center. During one of these outings I had the opportunity to observe this pair of cedar waxwings. They engaged in the classic “side-hop” and mate feeding courtship behavior described in the Stokes Nature [...]

Photo of the Day: Waxing Cedars at the Selman Ranch

Cedar Waxwings - Selman Ranch Harper County, Oklahoma March 2010 ©trryan

Cedar Waxwing vs. Bohemian Waxwing

Waxwings are among the most beautiful of passerines and when one gets good looks at any of the three species that occur worldwide those looks are almost always among the highlights of a birding day.  In North America there are two species of waxwing that one might encounter.  The careful and prepared observer will have [...] a

Cedar Waxwing – Privet Berries

Q: Cedar waxwings and other berry-loving birds love these plants I saw in an area near Kennesaw Mtn. I’d like to know the name of this berry-bearing plant. A: Great photo of a cedar waxwing! It is feasting on Chinese privet, Ligustrum sinense, berries. Although this is the shrub that surrounds the football playing field [...]

The Berry Thieves

The bird watching continues. This day, it's the cedar waxwings that have captured my attention. At one point, there were nine perched here together. It's a beautiful bird and right up there with the male and female cardinals on my list of favorites. Show More Summary

Birds falling from sky

Cedar Waxwing killed by car on Goose Pond Road. Originally uploaded by Laura Erickson (Transcript of Wednesday's For the Birds program) Ever since New Year’s Eve, stories have been making international news about birds falling dead from the skies. Show More Summary

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