Cedar Waxwing - Photos

15 years ago

Hi all,

It's kinda rare for me to post a series of photos which are all of the same species. But Cedar Waxwings are kinda rare visitors for us here, and we've be fortunate to have a flock visiting with us for a few days running. So we'd like to share some photos of them now...

We hope you enjoy these,

Kenn

Here is a link that might be useful: Current Slideshow

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Comments (22)

bob414
15 years ago
Great photos. Thanks for posting.
deanie1
15 years ago
Wow, those are absolutely beautiful. What kind of tree has those neat red berries? Were the waxwings eating the berries?
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Hey Marcia,.... cedar waxwings!
Q
Comments (2)
Thanks for the heads up, Kristi! Yes, I know what you mean about hearing them. That's how I usually find them, too, as they have a very distinctive chittering sort of sound they make. (I hope I can still hear them this year, but I've lost a lot of high-frequency sounds. Everyone was enjoying listening to a catbird yesterday at Emeralda Marsh, and I couldn't hear a thing!) Waxwings are so beautiful! They look like satin, they are so smooth. Beautiful markings on their faces, and that little dot of red is cool, isn't it? They have an endearing habit of sitting on a line or branch and taking a berry and passing it down the line, one bird to the other, with the last one getting to eat it. Hope I see some soon. Pictures for those of you who have never seen one or don't know what they look like: You can see in this picture that what looks like a small red spot on the feathers (in the photo above) is actually a tipping of a heavier type on the ends of certain feathers. That's the "wax" of "waxwing." It reminded early settlers of the sealing wax that was used on envelopes. For more info, including songs, check out the link below. These are lovely birds and watching flocks of them come through on migration is a lot of fun. Marcia Here is a link that might be useful: Cedar Waxwing Info & Song
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Cedar Waxwings
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Comments (6)
Susan, I'm mostly seeing Sulphurs, which we have in great profusion here, and also a few Question Marks and Commas. I haven't seen any Red Admirals yet, but we had a billion of them last year so I'm sure I'll see some before too long. We have a small handful of native wildflowers blooming, and the orange tree was blooming for the last 2 or 3 weeks but it is finished now. We have had high temps in the upper 70s a couple of times lately, and all the little flying critters came out of the woodwork like crazy on those days. On the day we hit 78 degrees, red wasps were out. We have the most honey bees I've ever seen out and about in January, and I hope that is a sign that the honey bee population is healthy and abundant this year. Helen, If I forget and leave cat food on the porch after dark, we have a steady stream of visitors, including armadillos, possums and coons coming to eat it. I try to remember to bring in the food at night so we don't encourage these varmints to hang around close to the house. We just have too much wildlife here. Last night I stepped out onto the back porch to call the cat who had not yet come indoors for the night, and there were three deer standing about 15 or 20' from the porch. I think they were coming to the side yard to eat any bird seed that the birds had dropped from the bird feeder to the ground. All the wildlife here is so hungry and has a hard time finding food they like at this time of the year. We have a yard full of cottontail rabbits every night. I'm not sure if they're eating bird seed or maybe the winter rye grass. Dawn
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Comments (12)
Yes she did! It seems they stick around for several weeks/month until flock disperses for breeding,.. still lots of Crab Apples, Mountain Ash, High bush Cranberry, Chokecherries, Russian Olive etc. around, they might even pick off new buds on trees. Only had ones a nest in the backyard around 25 years ago in a little spruce trees about 4 foot up, now that tree is HUGE. Have never seen the Cedars here in winter, they soon will be returning and I will see usually several nest out on the hobby farm, [above pictures] planted several hundred spruce trees from seeds. Hardly ever see Bohemian nest,..I'll have to ask them where they go.
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Cedar Waxwing Nestlings...
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Comments (22)
I keep stopping by this thread to see the wonderful photos of the adult tenderly caring for the irresistible babies - but all those gaping mouths caused a small problem for me. I had a dentist appointment soon after viewing the pics and I started thinking of what we look like to a dentist, with our mouths wide open. Do they ever get the urge to drop a worm in our mouths? I'm afraid I'll never go to a dentist again without thinking about this. Great photos though. Claire
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Konrad___far_north
15 years ago
Lovely Ken!... You captured them well in their feeding frenzy!
Looks like crap apple.
Charlee_MO
15 years ago
Oh I did enjoy them! Thank you! Great photos.
rachel_frome_ky
15 years ago
Breathtaking! You get birds to come so close!
sam_mocotx
15 years ago
Great pics and beautiful birds!
pertgarr
15 years ago
Great pictures. I love the cedar waxwings but don't get them often either. I love the little fat ones with the feathers all fluffed. Thanks for sharing.
orrin_h
15 years ago
Love these, esp the last photo, the bird looks totally
p*ssed at having it's pic taken. "Whadda you lookin' at?"

-O-
kenn3d
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks everybody, we were very happy to have these lovely visitors for a few days. It seems they've moved on now, but we have many additional photos of them in the queue, some of which I hope will be added to our gallery soon.

deanie - Konrad is right... this is an Indian Magic Crabapple tree. We have two of them and many of our birds enjoy the "berries". They provide many good photo opportunites also.

Kenn

Here is a link that might be useful: 2011 Gallery
janie_may
15 years ago
Beautiful, Kenn! Just beautiful!
terrene
15 years ago
Beautiful! I love Cedar Waxwings. What are those red berries they're eating?
bandjzmom
15 years ago
WONDERFUL shots Kenn!! The last one is my favorite! I just adore seeing these guys and have not had so many opportunities in my life to do so. I wonder what their favorite meal is. I notice a lot of pics with them on Crabapple, and I am thinking that I need one of those trees in my yard.~~ Angie :o)
georgia_kate
15 years ago
Those birds are beautiful! I saw a flock of them last week on my neighbor's pear trees. I had never seen one before, although I have always wanted to. It was exciting. :)
kendra2003
15 years ago
Amazing pictures. I also loved the last one the best because the colors at the tip of the wings and tail show up so brightly. It really looks like they dipped their wing tips in red wax.
terrene
15 years ago
Ooops, just saw that the red berry question had been answered already! :) That's a pretty crabapple. Yes Cedar Waxwings love Crabapples (as do Robins, Starlings, and occasionally Goldfinches, Bluebirds, etc). I've got lots of Crabs in the back yard, and usually see flocks of Cedar Waxwings in the fall. But we had a poor fruiting crop this past year, due the drought in the summer, and the birds weren't around as much as usual.
carol23_gw
15 years ago
Kenn, I looked at your member page to see what camera you use. Are your photos all taken with a tripod and what lens are you using? Your pictures are exquisite!

We had a flock of cedar waxwings here for about a month. They left a week ago. It was amazing to see how many of them piled into an evergreen privet each evening.

Carol
rachel_frome_ky
15 years ago
Such beautiful birds and detailed photos I keep returning to look at them again
kenn3d
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks again everybody, ...we love to share our birds here. :)

Carol23- We shoot hand-held (in Manual mode) with 3 Canon compact superzooms... an S3-IS, an S5-IS, and an SX30-IS. These are similar, inexpensive cameras and photographing wildlife of any kind with them can be challenging. But we have had a lot of practice and find they suit our needs as backyard birders on a budget. :)

Kenn

Here is a link that might be useful: Kenn & Temple - Backyard Birders
bandjzmom
15 years ago
Well, I DID it!! On my way into my local Tractor Supply, (love that store) I noticed some nice little trees out front. Lo and behold, one of the nicest was a Callaway Crabapple! Snatched it up, and it now resides in the middle of my back yard! I look out my kitchen window, and it's the first thing I see. Surely I won't miss the Waxwings now!!! :o)
carol23_gw
15 years ago
Thank you, Kenn, for your information. It was very helpful.
I'm also going to plant something extra for the waxwings.
carol23_gw
15 years ago
For about one month's time, cedar waxwings roosted in a Ligustrum in our back yard. My neighbor was kind enough to take some pictures a couple of weeks ago. The light was fading at the time but this gives you some idea of how many birds could fit in one shrub! There is a small spring that runs along that area. I've read the waxwings like the sound of running water.

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}
jolt47
15 years ago
OMG, just 10 minutes ago, a flock of several dozen landed in a maple tree just outside my window in southern Rhode Island. I've seen them many times in the fall, but never before in early spring.

Didn't have time to grab a camera, but no way I could match these gorgeous photos.

Cedar Waxwing - Photos

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Cedar Waxwing - Photos

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