Morning sun

  

Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) and a Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) enjoying the morning sun in Santa Rosa today (6 January 2026).  [You can click on the image for a larger version.]

Berry gathering

  

Heard some Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) calling in the parking lot at Oliver's and looked up to see a large flock feeding on berries.  

There was a mix of juveniles (above) and adults (below):

 

 

Other species were attracted to the activity, too.  Here's a Western Tanager (Piranga ludoviciana): 

 

 

Lone ranger and the hermit

  

A couple of neighborhood birds in Cotati today (8 February 2025).

 Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum), above, and Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus), below.

 

 

Morning sun

  

Cedar Waxwings in the morning sun, photographed in Cotati on 10 October 2023.

Spring ornaments

 

 

A flock of Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) perched in the early evening light behind our house on 7 April 2023.  The entire flock was much larger -- tree ornaments in spring!

 

 

 

Tips for spring

  

A flock of Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) returned to our yard this weekend.  The lighting was quite nice this morning (20 March 2022), so I decided to try for a few photos.  Things weren't quite working out, but then I noticed something interesting.  I had zoomed in on the image on my camera to check the focus and I noticed that this individual had more than the typical yellow coloration on its tail.

Waxwings are known for having red waxy tips on their secondary wing feathers — like this:

 

 

 

But if you look closely, the waxwing in the first photo (above) has red-orange waxy tips on its tail feathers.  Here's a closer view:

 

 

 

I couldn't remember seeing this before, so I read a little more about it in Birds of the World.  Here's what it said — "Waxy appendages...are found on up to 8 central rectrices (among r1–r4) in 0.3–0.9% of museum specimen and banded bird samples."

 

So it's pretty rare to find a waxwing with waxy tips on its tail feathers.  Also, it's a little hard to count, but it appears that on the bird I photographed there are 12 red-orange waxy tips (Cedar Waxwings have 12 tail feathers.)

Swept back

  

A flock of Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) stopped in our yard over the weekend.  I walked outside and heard them calling softly from high up in a tree, and then noticed some birds were flying down to a cluster of berries near our house.  I was impressed with this one's crest!

Some berries!

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.]

 

 

 

To count the number of birds, I opened the photo in PowerPoint and put a colored dot on each bird.  I used a different color for each group of 20 birds.  So most of the colors below are an entire group of 20, but one color has fewer — the palest green at the bottom of the photo, which also includes the two outliers, one at the top and one at the right side of the photo.  This makes it easier to add up the total number of waxwings in the flock:

 

 

 

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!  :)

 

Waiting for summer fruit -- Part 2

A few nights ago I posted some photos of juvenile Cedar Waxwings in Bodega Bay — see "Waiting for summer fruit" on 18 September 2020.  Ruth wrote to say that there wasn't confirmed nesting data for Cedar Waxwings in Sonoma County.  Well, since this is a rare event, I'm including a couple more photos for the record:

 

 

(Eric thinks the young waxwings look like little dinosaurs.  Do you agree?)

 

 

 

 

(This bird starting actively begging when an adult flew in with food.)

 

 

Cedar Waxwings generally nest in more northern locations — e.g., from southeast Alaska through British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon, and extending down to northwestern California (Del Norte and Humboldt counties) — Sonoma County is south of the main breeding range for them along the West Coast.

 

Waiting for summer fruit

 

 

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.)

Waxwing day

  

Although the day varies, every year a flock of Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) descends to gorge on berries in our yard.  Today was the day in 2019!  There were ~40 birds here this morning.

 

The birds tend to alternate between eating berries and resting in nearby branches.  Since they're in the yard for a little while, there are opportunities for close-ups.  Here are a few of my favorite from 30 December 2019:

 

 

 

 

Asleep in a sycamore

 

Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) asleep in a sycamore tree in Davis, CA, on 29 October 2019.

Parallels

Each year flocks of Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) feast on the berries in our yard.  Below are a few photos from today (22 November 2018).

Perched in the distance:

 

 

Feeding on berries nearby: 

 

 

 Resting and preening after the meal:

 

It was fun to experience the parallels between the waxwings outside and the people inside during the Thanksgiving meal!

 

Winter berries

A couple of days ago, a large flock of robins and waxwings found a tree full of berries in our yard: 

 

Male American Robin (Turdus migratorius) — note the dark feathers on the head, and compare them to the female's paler head feathers (below):

 

 

Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) — I liked how the yellow band at the tip of the tail blended in with the leaves. 

The activity also attracted another visitor that was interested in the berries:

 

Female Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) — females lack a red stripe on the face (while males have a red stripe).

Berry delicious

 

It's been a busy couple of days, but here are a few pictures of Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) from our yard in the late afternoon today (13 December 2017).

A close-up of the red wax-like droplets at the tips of the secondary feathers:

 

And one image of the flock just after it took off.  When they're feeding, sometimes it's hard to see (or hear) how many waxwings are in the tree.  I'm almost always surprised by how many birds there actually are.  How many do you see in the photo below?  (All of the birds in the photo are waxwings.)

 

[I counted 46 waxwings.]

They're back

 

Last spring, a large flock of Cedar Waxwings visited the berries in our yard.  

They've returned during the last few days.

 

Cedar Waxwings have a very distinctive silhouette:

 

 

P.S.  It's been many years since I've seen a Bohemian Waxwing.  Although generally found in more northern areas, they can occur in California.  I'd love to see one here!

 

Wax on, wax off

 

This morning I watched a large flock of Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) feeding on berries. 

It was intriguing to see how they foraged so closely to each other (see below)...although waxwings are known for being "social."  

I was also struck by how well their coloration — the light and dark markings — camouflaged them in the tree.  It was easy to lose track of individuals as their masks looked like the bark of the tree or shaded spots, and their pale bellies blended with views of the sky.

 

Here's another example (next image).  How many waxwings do you see?  You can click on the image for a larger version.  (Some of the birds are only partially in view.)

 

Below is another image with the birds that I found marked by yellow numbers.  Let me know if I missed any!

 

Waxwings are named for the red, wax-like droplets that develop on the secondary feathers:

 

You might have noticed that not all of the waxwings have "wax on their wings."  (See second photo of this post.)  The image below shows one waxwing with its wing lifted, making it easier to see the isolated red droplets at the tips of the feathers.  Birds with more red droplets are older, and tend to nest earlier in the season and have greater reproductive success, leading researchers to believe that the red markings have something to do with mate choice and social organization.  (Facts from The Birds of North America account by Witmer et al. 2014.)

 

Today I also noticed one bird with red markings at the tips of its yellow tail feathers:

 

Interestingly, I learned that there's only one breeding record for Cedar Waxwing in Sonoma County (in Kenwood in 2007).  In California, it's apparently rare for Cedar Waxwings to nest south of Del Norte and Humboldt counties.

Most Cedar Waxwings will leave this area during the next couple of months and then will return in the late summer or fall after nesting farther north.  So if you know of a berry patch nearby, enjoy the waxwings now while you can!

Shopping for fruit

Sometimes I like grocery shopping, but other times it can feel a bit like a chore, something I have to do rather than want to do.  But it helps when there are interesting things to look at outside of the stores.  At this time of year, many of the trees in the parking lots have fruits that attract birds.

Recently, the trees near the Fiesta Market in Sebastopol have been very active.  It's been fun to look up and see these species in between errands:

 

Female Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana).  Do you think she's perched in a crabapple?  

There were male bluebirds nearby, too (see next image).

 

Then I followed a very high-pitched call and found these birds sitting high in a bare-branched tree:

 

Here's a closer view of a Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum):

 

And one from behind that highlights the lemon yellow tail band and the crimson red tips on the wing feathers for which the species is named.

 

Although I had to dodge some cars in the parking lot to get these bird pictures, it was nice to have a little natural history mixed into my chores last weekend.  And in this case, we were all "shopping" for fruit!