Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum)
Compiled by Lisa S. Graham
Photo credit: Peter Hawrylyshyn, Macaulay Library
Austin has always been a hotbed of the punk rock scene, and the Cedar Waxwing has the eye makeup to fit right in. And just as punk musicians and their fans descended en masse on Liberty Lunch back in the day, these birds will arrive in large groups when your Yaupon berries are ripe in the winter months and strip the tree of its fruit in next to no time at all.
Highly social, you won’t find single Cedar Waxwings; they always arrive in groups. Their name comes from the waxy red tips on their wing feathers – they also have yellow waxy tips on their tails. Their feathers have a silky appearance in gray, brown, and lemon-yellow. Their crest resembles that of a cardinal but more “back swept” and in brown rather than red, and their black masks (eye makeup!) is one of their most striking features. In size, they come in between sparrow- and robin-size with broad, pointed wings and a fairly short, square-tipped tail.
Cedar Waxwings are fruit eaters and swallow the fruit whole; since the fruit passes through their system (rather than regurgitating the seeds like other birds), they are helpful in propagating fruit across wide areas. This preference for fruit assists them in foiling cowbirds who may lay eggs in the Cedar Waxwing nest – cowbird chicks cannot survive on high-fruit diets and don’t survive to fledge. Cedar Waxwings also eat insects; they won’t come to your feeder for seeds or nuts but may take a mealworm or two during the spring and summer if they are around.
When it’s time to nest, the female makes the final location decisions and is also the primary nest builder. She’ll build a nest into a cap shape about 5 inches wide and 3 inches deep which she lines with grasses, pine needles, and fine roots. It will take her 5 or 6 days to complete, and she may make over 2,500 trips to the nest – to save time, she may take materials from other birds’ nests. Since they are so social, Cedar Waxwings may nest together in loose clusters of a dozen or so nests. Their nesting happens in July and August to assure there is ample fruit available for their young.
They will raise one or two broods per year with egg clutches of two to six eggs. The eggs incubate for 11-13 days and nestlings remain in the nest for 14 to 18 days. Prior to committing to raising young together, the male and female will court by hoping toward one another, sometimes touching bills – the male will bring the female gifts such as a piece of fruit, a small insect, or a flower. After taking the gift, the female will hop away then return to give the item back to the male. They’ll repeat this behavior a few times until the female swallows the fruit or insect. They spend breeding season in Canada and come more south in the winter. They are nomadic – traveling wherever the food is located, consuming the food, then moving on.
You’ll often hear them before you see them – keep an ear out for their high-pitched bzeee call and look for them in large flocks overhead, with slightly undulating flight.
Sources include All About Birds (Cornell) and Audubon Field Guide.
