Backyard Birding: Cedar Waxwings

Each day during the last week, I've been blessed with hundreds of Cedar Waxwings in my big backyard tree.  There is a dense grove of pine trees in the adjoining backyard, with a couple of cedar trees loaded with cedar berries.  A dozen Waxwings at a time will fly down into the cedar tree, eat some berries then zip back up to a perch in my tree, almost like they have meal shifts.

I've been searching through the large flock carefully hoping I might find a Bohemian Waxwing.  So far, no luck, but I am always happy to "settle" for Cedar Waxwings which are among the most sleek and beautiful of all birds.

I am reminded of the time when I took my family to Fort Boise WMA to see the Snow Geese.  There were two large trees overhanging the dirt road ahead of us chock-full of Cedar Waxwings.  I pulled up underneath the tree and opened my sunroof for a better view. Big mistake! Suddenly it started to rain, but it wasn't water. Some of the grossest bird droppings I had ever seen fell into our hair and all over, inside and out, of the family minivan. My wife was not well pleased.