I usually see them in the fall when they come back through. They flock to the ligustrum trees and eat the berries. I loving seeing them. They are such happy active little birds. Linda, when I was a kid I remember birds eating China berries that had fallen from my grandmothers tree. She'd laugh because they would stagger around drunk afterwards as the berries were somewhat fermented. Maybe the fermenting process destroys some of the poison. I just now looked up 'drunk birds' on line. As well as speaking to the subject of 'drunks' the article says birds can eat without harm poison seeds that would kill other creatures. Here is a link that might be useful: Drunk birds and other interesting things ....

MM, What a wonderful experience! As you have seen, the story that birds will abandon babies and nests if they smell humans is an old wive's tale. I have been fortunate to have bluebirds nest in my yard, and they will even tolerate a nest change when it has been extremely necessary. Some species are more wary than others, but most have a very poor sense of smell. I have found most of the songbirds that actually take care of their young (other than cowbirds) are actually very loyal to them. They will risk their own safety (to a point) to insure the babies' survival. Nature does bless them with enough sense to preserve their own life in extreme threats (like wasps) however. After all, baby songbirds have a 1 in 2 chance of making through the first year. It wouldn't make sense for the breeding pair to throw all caution to the wind and give up their own lives. They can always go on and raise another brood afterall.

Great capture!I have had as many as a dozen around my pond. One pair is nesting somewhere near here but I haven't found where. I don't think they are in the tree they used last year. We have been planting berries for the last few years and they are becoming regulars. Before that they were a rare sight for me.Way cool birds!

A couple of years ago, I had a pair of waxwings nesting in a tree in my yard. A robin kept approaching the nest. Even though the robin didn't do anything to the eggs, the waxwings ended up abandoning the nest with the eggs in it because, I guess, of the robin coming too close to the nest and disturbing them. Even though robins don't pose a threat, I guess they felt the nest wasn't safe. I think the robin liked the location of the nest. Anyway, they stayed away for quite some time. They eventually returned and dismantled the nest and moved it to another yard. I had provided wool for them to build the nest so they didn't want to leave the wool behind so they relocated. I was sad to see them leave, but the next year they successfully nested and had 5 fledglings that all successfully left the nest.