While eating breakfast this morning (16 March 2021), we noticed a lot of bird activity in the backyard. A large flock of Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) was flying back and forth between a tall tree and a short shrub in our neighbor's yard. (I'm not sure what kind of shrub it is, but it's packed with large red berries right now.)
The angle of the sun in the backyard was wrong for a photo, so I went out into the front yard to see if there were any waxwings there. I noticed a small flock at the top of an oak. These birds were hidden among the leaves, but I tried to get a few shots. One of them was preening its tail feathers by arching its tail over its back, a position I don't recall noticing before:
And then I heard the very loud whooshing sound of a large flock of birds taking off. All of the waxwings in the backyard flew by me headed west.
I was impressed with how loud the sound was and knew that it might be a large flock of waxwings. I took one quick photo of the flock. If you'd like to try to estimate the numbers, here's an image without any markings. [You can click on it for a larger version.]
What is the total number of Cedar Waxwings in this flock? I came up with 414! And perhaps you noticed, but there's also a small flock of waxwings perched in the tree to the right of the palm, so an addition of eight birds = a total of 422 waxwings in this photo. Amazing! I can't recall seeing a flock of waxwings this large before.
Those must be some berries! :)
3 comments:
What a wonderful visitation! I've never seen one in that grooming posture, either
Thank you for your blog, I read it every day. This one is fascinating to me, because I'm often trying to estimate large flocks of birds in flight here on the Olympic Peninsula. A friend who got her PhD in marine biology years ago specialized in seabirds. Prior to modern technology, she told me she had to toss specific amounts of beans on a table to visualize what 75, 100, 500, 1,000, etc. looked like. She can glance at a flock and immediately say, "750."
Hi, Wendy!
Yes, counting large groups of individuals can be challenging. But it's good to know that it's a skill you can practice and improve on! This comes up with shorebirds quite a bit, too. It's helpful to start thinking about subsets -- groups of 10, 25, 50, or 100, etc. and to imagine a circle around them and to move a circle of that same size across the entire group to see how many circles it takes to cover the flock. But I'll admit, this flock of waxwings surprised me! I didn't have an extended view, but I might have only guessed half as many as were documented in the photo. Another good lesson -- to continue checking your estimates against reality!
Jackie
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