Cedar Waxwings by the Dozen!

Such beautiful birds, so gregarious yet so gentle. Their little bandit faces make them look a bit mischievous, but they are actually not. Cedar Waxwings are one of the smaller of our songbirds, and their temperaments in general are fairly soft and easy-going. 

These guys come in after getting a bit inebriated from ingesting fermented winter berries, like mountain ash and crabapple. They wind up on the ground, and if they do not recover soon, they will die from predation or hypothermia.  Inebriation interferes with thermo-regulation (ability to stay warm or cool). So, winter birds that tend to get dopey off berries are actually at grave risk. In addition, they are more likely to hit windows in that condition, which all my rehabs have done this fall. I've had more waxwings this year than ever.  

Cedar waxwings travel in large flocks; there have been a hundred or so  birds down at the Old Mill in Bend recently. They have a cute habit of passing a berry down the line of birds, till one finally eats it. Scientists aren't sure why they do it, but I think they are just having fun. They are one of the less territorial songbirds, even during breeding season. So, perhaps sharing is part of their nature. 

They look larger than they really are, at only 2 or so ounces. They are tiny really. They live almost entirely on fruit in winter, and today they have moved towards more of our planted species, like the mountain ash. However, they get their name from the Cedar tree, which they ate the berries of historically. 

They are highly susceptible to the insecticides and other sprays with coat our trees and shrubs with. And being so little, it does not take much to make them sick. At least 2 of my intakes were sick from what I think was pesticide poisoning. One did not survive, the other I just released. If you love birds, please do not spray your trees with anything...not even "non-toxic" products like soap (soaps kills the waterproofing on birds and makes them sick too). 

These are not feeder birds, but if you want them in your yard plant serviceberry, mountain ash, cherry trees, crabapple, and raspberries - but be happy birds are eating all your fruit! Know that your fruiting trees are keeping these cuties alive. In rehab, they are eating soaked currents, pear, chopped raisens, raspberries, and blueberries, along with mealworms (at least they are offered). 

Our Cedar Waxwings get released into large flocks, as this one did just a couple days ago. The birds have the safety of their flock, lots of food supply, and good habitat.

Unlike some birds in which we try to return them to their original location and group, with the Waxwings, we release them to larger flocks with abundant resources (if we can). Cedar Waxwings are flocking up at this time anyway and we like to give our rehabs a good chance. There is safety in numbers, and they have night-time buddies to stay warm with on freezing nights and experienced birds that can lead the way to food sources. 

Enjoy these special birds! Keep some small binocs in your car, and take that moment or two just to get close up look. However, never walk up to trees at night and try to get closer looks at birds resting for the night or even on really cold days. 

Once a bird flies, it loses all of its built up heat. Birds can die from having to lose this critical heat upon a flight made late in the day. For the tiny songbirds, they may not have the physical reserves to make more heat for their frigged night. 


Enjoy those Waxwings! See the fb post for video.