Cedar Waxwing!!

[green husker]

Have had a flock of dozens of cedar waxwings here this past week, in N. Arlington. Had to look them up on the internet; I've never seen this bird before, and didn't know what it was. They seem to have a strong social/flock habit... they do everything together as a group. Eating, drinking, etc. and do not appear to have a solitary nature. Is it unusual to see these here? I know they're fruit and insect eaters, and I think they've been working on the neighbor's ligustrum, along with the robins. The robins seem to be about earlier than normal this year; must be the weather.

Any other observations of this bird, or comments?

[gardeneratlaw]

I'm glad you mentioned this bird. I've been seeing what I thought were female cardinals because of the soft coloring and tuft on the head, but I'll bet they were Cedar Waxwings.

Also observing 9-10 cardinals around the feeder at a time. Didn't know they ran in groups. Maybe this is one family :?

Great birding around the pond at the farm in Celina this winter because of the drought.

[green husker]

Here's a page link with a good photo and description of these little birds. Please post if you've seen these in your area!

http://www.enature.com/flashcard/show_flash_card.asp?recordNumber=BD0425

[Mike&Steph]

We saw a few at our house in Stephenville last season but not yet this year. We're looking forward to 'em tho'. They are beautiful birds!

[Mikey]

Great link. I have also noticed groups of cardinals (mostly males and one female) feeding in the backyard at almost dusk. I do see the male(s) feeding during the day, mostly in the shade, maybe on the hackberry seeds that fall from the trees behind the fence (or the "burrsees" (bird seeds), as my 2 year old neice calls it). I do remember one young male cardinal, when we lived in the White Rock area, that used to perch on the highest power line before dark. He would stay there and chirp away. Are they somewhat nocturnal???

[Tony M]

I've seen a flock of waxwings feeding on our hackberry trees along the creek several times this year. I always remark to my wife that the feathers are so fine that they look like hair.
I found a dead one that ran into a window at a friends vacation house a few years back. You don't realize how beautiful this bird is until you examine it up close.
Tony M

[Birdzilla]

Cedar Waxwings are a beautiful bird when you see them up close. They will remain in Texas well into spring. In the warm Texas spring days they will gorge themselves on ferminting berries to the point they become so intoxicated they can barely fly.

[ladyvine]

The waxwings are a migatory bird. I first saw them 2005 when we moved to Johnson County, they also eat cedar berries(?). They wereon our property until around the middle of March last year. I saw one flock of them this year and they didn't stay around our property like they did last year. We love to watch them.

[Birdzilla]

Large flocks of Cedar Waxwings are common in Texas during the winter. They tend to exhaust food supplies in a local area fairly quickly and move from one area to another. You may have them in your neighborhood for a couple of weeks, only to see them disappear completely.

The tip of the tail feathers is usually yellow. In the 1960's Cedar Waxwings with orange instead of yellow tail tips began appearing in the northeastern United States and north into Canada. The orange color was the result of a red pigment acquirerd from eating berries of an introduced species of honeysuckle.

Feather colors are often controlled by the food the birds eat. I just wrote a new section on feathers and colors for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's web site. If you are interested in the topic you can visit this link.

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/studying/feathers/

If nothing else you will see some pretty bird pictures.