Today was cloudy, windy, and overcast—definitely not an ideal day for taking photos. Sure, I like to have some clouds to cut down on harsh shadows, but you need sunlight to have shadows, and we sure did not have much of that today.
This afternoon I was walking on a path along a creek when small flock of birds flew into some nearby trees. They were pretty noisy and that attracted my attention. Looking though my telephoto zoom lens, I saw that they had an interesting silhouette, so I took some shots. They sky was already really light, but when I tweaked the exposure a little it went totally white and a really cool-looking bird emerged from the shadows. Usually I am pretty bad at identifying birds, but my initial Google search on the very distinctive yellow wing tips was successful in identifying this bird as a Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum).
Cedar Waxwing on a branch
According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cedar Waxwings feed on mostly fruit year-round, one of the few North American birds that specialize in eating fruit. One of the consequences of doing so, however, is that they sometimes get intoxicated from eating fermenting berries. The range map for this species suggests that they may be present year-round in this area (we are close to the northern boundary), but this is the first time that I have seen one.
This photo is more “artsy” than realistic, but I like its graphic character. It looks a bit to me like an illustration, in part, I guess, because of the white background.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Funny coincidence: You posted about this bird the same day I posted about Morrow’s honeysuckle, and there’s evidence for an interesting interaction between the two. As this invasive honeysuckle has spread across eastern North America over the last few decades, there has been an increase in cedar waxwings with orange/red tail tips in place of the usual yellow. Evidence suggests that as the honeysuckle has become more abundant, the waxwings have been eating more of its berries. A pigment in the berries is stored in their tail feathers, turning the tips red/orange.
http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Auk/v113n04/p0735-p0743.pdf
https://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/JFO/v063n02/p0212-p0216.pdf
Wow. It’s pretty amazing to think that a bird could eat so much of a food it would produce visible changes in their bodies.
Such a beautiful bird. A flock was in my yard last week, along with robins. They dined on berries and bathed in my water garden. They are such a handsome bird.
I keep seeing new birds all the time. Perhaps they have been here every year before, but I never noticed them.
The waxwings tend to stay in flocks except during mating season. Small flocks will go in where there’s red berries, usually stay there until they’re gone and move to the next berry place.