Juvenile Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) resting among lichens on a pine branch.
There were four juveniles being fed by an adult. Here's a view of them watching and waiting:
Cedar Waxwings are late nesters, breeding late in the season when summer fruits and berries have ripened. The adults will feed the young for ~10 days after they leave the nest. (These fledglings were being fed coffeeberries.)
2 comments:
Where were these great photos taken? We have no confirmed nesting data for Cedar Waxwings in Sonoma County.
Hi, Ruth!
Interesting, I knew seeing nesting waxwings was rare, but I didn't realize there weren't any confirmed records in Sonoma County. This was along the Coastal Prairie Trail in Bodega Bay. Let me know if you need more info or additional photos. I have more pictures of the juveniles, and of the adult gobbling up berries before it brought them to the young ones.
I should have mentioned it, but I was first cued to them because I was hearing waxwings call, but the call sounded a little different than the typical call made by adults. It was a little lower and a little slower. If you're used to listening to waxwings, it definitely stood out, so I kept trying to locate the birds that were calling. At first I couldn't find them, and that was a little odd, too. But the young ones weren't moving around that much, and they were often silent while waiting for the adult.
Jackie
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