Spotted: Cedar Waxwings Another of my Favorites

 Derby watching the cedar waxwings sitting on the holly

bushes by the bedroom window.  

A treat to find in your binocular view field, the Cedar Waxwing

 is a silky, shiny collection of brown, gray, and lemon-yellow,

 accented with a subdued crest, rakish black mask, and brilliant-red 

wax droplets on the wing feathers. In fall these birds gather by the

 hundreds to eat berries, filling the air with their high, thin, 

whistles. In summer you’re as likely to find them flitting 

about over rivers in pursuit of flying insects, where they show

 off dazzling aeronautics for a forest bird.

Cedar Waxwings inhabit deciduous, coniferous, and mixed

 woodlands, particularly areas along streams. You may also find

 them in old fields, grasslands, sagebrush, and even along 

desert washes. With the spread of ornamental berry trees in landscaping,

 Cedar Waxwings are increasingly common in towns and suburbs. 

In winter, Cedar Waxwings are most abundant around fruiting plants

 in open woodlands, parks, gardens, forest edges, and second-growth forests.

Birds that winter in the tropics tend to inhabit highlands.

Cedar Waxwings feed mainly on fruits year-round. 

In summer, they feed on fruits such as serviceberry, strawberry, 

mulberry, dogwood, and raspberries. The birds’ name derives from 

their appetite for cedar berries in winter; they also eat mistletoe, 

madrone, juniper, mountain ash, honeysuckle, crabapple, hawthorn,

 and Russian olive fruits. In summer Cedar Waxwings supplement

 their fruit diet with protein-rich insects including mayflies, dragonflies,

 and stoneflies, often caught on the wing. They also pick items such

as scale insects, spruce budworm, and leaf beetles directly from vegetation.

Female waxwings do almost all the nest building; 

males may do some construction for the second nest of a season. 

The female weaves twigs, grasses, cattail down, blossoms, string, 

horsehair, and similar materials into a bulky cup about 5 inches across

 and 3 inches high. She lines this cup with fine roots, grasses, 

and pine needles and may decorate the outside with fruiting

 grasses or oak and hickory catkins. Construction takes 5 to 6 days

 and may require more than 2,500 individual trips to the nest.

Waxwings occasionally save time by taking nest materials from 

other birds’ nests, including Eastern Kingbirds, Yellow-throated 

Vireos, orioles, robins, and Yellow Warblers.

Cedar Waxwings are social birds that form large flocks

and often nest in loose clusters of a dozen or so nests. 

When feeding on fruits, Cedar Waxwings pluck them one by one

 and swallow the entire thing at once. They typically feed while

 perched on a twig, but they’re also good at grabbing berries 

while hovering briefly just below a bunch. When eating insects, 

waxwings either fly out from an exposed perch, or make long, 

zig-zagging flights over water.

The name "waxwing" comes from the waxy red secretions

found on the tips of the secondaries of some birds. The exact function

 of these tips is not known, but they may help attract mates.

The Cedar Waxwing is one of the few North American birds

that specializes in eating fruit. It can survive on fruit 

alone for several months.