Cedar Waxwing - Jaseur d’Amérique
It is the case that I hear these birds before I see them: the whirring, buzzing sound whose volume denotes the size of the flock. My friend Paul and I once crawled on our backs under a fence and then under some shrubs that were filled with many hundreds of these birds, and the sound was unreal - almost electric, like a power generator. Sadly, because they were finishing off the buckthorn berries, when they pooped on us (an inevitable consequence of our odd choice of spotting location) they stained Paul’s new winter coat.
Waxwings are in a very select group: they have no song as such. Instead, the buzzing trill is a call, designed to connect with the flock - as opposed to songs, which are ways to define territory and attract mates. Because Waxwings are always moving and following food, this has worked out for them.
We have both Cedar and Bohemian overwintering here in Ottawa, and finding these birds this late (I took this a few weeks ago) means they were sweeping the area for the last remaining berries. It was kind of a crummy spring day, cold and wet, but I thought this image worked out. Waxwings will generally feed in waves, often separated by days. They will grab the easiest fruit first, metaphorically the ‘low-hanging’ fruit, but actually the highest fruit. The truly low-hanging fruit is the last to be eaten, when they have exhausted the safer, higher berries. I waited for the bolder birds to drop down to the branch tips in search of the remnants.
Cedar Waxwing - Jaseur d’Amérique
It is the case that I hear these birds before I see them: the whirring, buzzing sound whose volume denotes the size of the flock. My friend Paul and I once crawled on our backs under a fence and then under some shrubs that were filled with many hundreds of these birds, and the sound was unreal - almost electric, like a power generator. Sadly, because they were finishing off the buckthorn berries, when they pooped on us (an inevitable consequence of our odd choice of spotting location) they stained Paul’s new winter coat.
Waxwings are in a very select group: they have no song as such. Instead, the buzzing trill is a call, designed to connect with the flock - as opposed to songs, which are ways to define territory and attract mates. Because Waxwings are always moving and following food, this has worked out for them.
We have both Cedar and Bohemian overwintering here in Ottawa, and finding these birds this late (I took this a few weeks ago) means they were sweeping the area for the last remaining berries. It was kind of a crummy spring day, cold and wet, but I thought this image worked out. Waxwings will generally feed in waves, often separated by days. They will grab the easiest fruit first, metaphorically the ‘low-hanging’ fruit, but actually the highest fruit. The truly low-hanging fruit is the last to be eaten, when they have exhausted the safer, higher berries. I waited for the bolder birds to drop down to the branch tips in search of the remnants.