I was overjoyed to see a beautiful flock of cedar waxwings land outside my window. They are gorgeous brownish grey birds with little red and yellow accents and feathered crests. They are migratory so you will only see them during certain short periods of the year, and from what I’ve read they subsist solely on berries so they are constantly moving in search of food. Here is a great photo of them.
Cool fact: Over most of North America, the Cedar Waxwing is the most specialized fruit-eating bird. This bird’s primary foods are fleshy fruits that are high in sugar content. Like tropical birds with this diet, Cedar Waxwings are social all year long, they nest in loose clusters, and at times they wander widely in flocks in search of temporarily abundant sources of fruit. Because of their reliance on summer ripening fruit for feeding their hatchlings, they are among the latest birds to nest in North America.
They’re here because Texas is covered with juniper and salt cedar trees.
The fruit of junipers historically dominated the winter diet, especially in the northern parts of the winter range, and most Cedar Waxwings still winter in parts of the country where junipers grow. The highest concentrations of wintering Cedar Waxwings occur in central Texas in the oak-juniper savanna and in Alabama and eastern Mississippi in stands of juniper, sweet gum, and oak. In recent years, Cedar Waxwings have increasingly turned to crops and ornamentals such as crabapple, hawthorn, firethorn, pepper tree, Russian olive in the West, and non-native honeysuckle in the East as winter food sources.
I remember when I was a courier for Fedex I would see the waxwings suddenly appear in a large flock and land nearby. They always fascinated me with their gregarious energy, talking to one another and always hopping over each other to rearrange themselves. At this one building where I had stops to make, they seemed to get literally intoxicated on the bright red berries they popped into their mouths. When they took off they would run into the glass of the building exterior and fall to the ground. A few of them would be lying on the walkway stunned as business dressed people walked past and looked down with mute interest. I would crouch down like a child and pet them gently with my index finger before they regained their senses and took off again. There is something amazing in birds, like evidence of God.
Waxwings are so cute. I always thought their coloring was so strangely subtle, like the colors morph into one another. Have you ever picked one up? I picked up a little greenish finch once that had bonked itself senseless on a window, and it was like picking up nothing at all, it was so light.
I can’t remember if I have picked them up, but I have always liked birds and have had several. I think they have to be light to fly, hence the hollow bones, etc. But, you’re right their coloring is very subtle and nice.