Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Cedar Waxwings stop to eat all the Holly Berries



These happy birds 


come  daily to dine on the  Holly Berry Tree.   These birds are fast flitters, they don't sit long or still and I was really meaning to be unpacking boxes so I didn't dedicate too much time to photos, but like many opportunities in life, it is one of those seasonal events that will suddenly be over. 

A blogger in Texas who calls herself Wayside Wanderer, her name inspired by this quote she shares: Never lose the opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful; for beauty is God's handwriting - a wayside sacrament. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
asked me what kind of tree was pictured in my previous post and it reminded me that I had tried to capture a few pictures of the birds in the same tree. 



I remember the first time these feasters got my attention.

  When we first moved to this house in the late eighties, one fall day I pulled into the driveway and saw that the Holly tree, much smaller then, was bouncing with 30 or 40 birds. The crested head, black mask and yellow belly helped me to identify them.



They are  Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum)  and once they have systematically eaten all the berries ( they start at the top of the tree and work their way down) I probably won't  see them around here.

The Audubon description of the bird mentions that they have a yellow terminal tail band and this little fellow turned around and showed me  that he does indeed have such a band.




Audubon also says that berries are their main food source in winter, but they revert to fly catching in milder seasons.  No flies on the menu this week...they are drunk with bright red berry juice.

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5 comments:

joanne said...

great photos. Such beautiful birds, glad you were able to catch them before they are gone for the winter.

Neal said...

Thanks for sharing. They are beautiful birds. Cheers, Neal

GretchenJoanna said...

Good for you - and for all of us, your readers - that you stopped working to be reacquainted with your old friends, or their great-grandchildren....If I plant a holly bush, will they come here, too?

Leslie said...

Beautiful! We have Holly trees AND cedar waxwings here. In our old house they would flock into our creek with noise/call that was hypnotic. They would eat all the berries in my neighbors mulberry and then come sit in my hackberry, probably a little loopy, and poo all over my deck. I did not enjoy cleaning up after them. I would love a holly tree here. I am fascinated by anything with a red berry. Thanks for this post! I enjoyed it...and had no idea about the yellow tail band. That is so cool you captured it.

Haddock said...

Agree with that blogger from Texas.
What a smart looking bird :-)