Cedar Waxwings in the Pussy Willow

I remember being told that Cedar Waxwings are among the most nomadic of birds. Numbers are highly unpredictable, here in numbers one day, then gone for days or months.

So, it is always a great pleasure to see them and, especially in my own backyard as I did on a mid-April day in 2016.

cedarwaxwing-10

A pair spent at least half an hour in our flowering pussy willow tree.

cedarwaxwing-9

I’m not just sure exactly which part of the willow flower they were savouring but they ate a great deal of it.

cedarwaxwing-12

Their diet consists mainly of fruit, tree buds, flowers and insects.

cedarwaxwing-13

Cedar Waxwings are our only brown, sparrow-sized bird, with a prominent crest, yellow-tipped tail and whitish undertail coverts

cedarwaxwing-1

cedarwaxwing-2

cedarwaxwing-5

cedarwaxwing-15

Miles Hearn

 

 

 

1 thought on “Cedar Waxwings in the Pussy Willow

  1. susie

    Thank you for posting this. I’ve never seen even one cedar waxwing in our yard in 34 years. Just a few minutes ago, I happen to look out the kitchen window and our pussy willow was full of these guys, all eating something on the pussy willow seed buds. There must have been 50-I’m not exaggerating! When I went back about 5 minutes later, they were gone.
    So I did a search and found you.
    This was one of the most amazing sights I’ve ever had the good fortune to see!
    We live in south/western New York state.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *