Cedar Waxwings

by Karin Bolcshazy

If you have fruit or berry trees in your yard, you may have had visits from some real 'lookers' – a flock (properly known as a "museum" or an "ear-full") of cedar waxwings. A cedar waxwing is a silky, shiny concoction of brown, gray, and lemon-yellow and accented with a head crest. Rakish black mask outlined in white and brilliant wing feathers with red tips resembling red sealing wax gives these birds their common name. Cedar waxwings eat berries and sugary fruit year-round including dogwood, serviceberry, cedar, juniper, hawthorn, and winterberry, with insects becoming an important part of the diet in the breeding season. Its fondness for the small cones of the eastern red cedar (a kind of juniper) give it the other half of its name. In fall, these birds, being very social, gather by the hundreds to feed while filling the air with their high, thin, whistles. Waxwings are similar to starlings in size and shape, and often form big unruly flocks that grow, shrink, divide, and rejoin like starling flocks. Waxwings are evaluated as least concern on the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species.

Evidence suggests that cedar waxwing populations have more than tripled in Pennsylvania since 1968.  They are found nesting in every county. In some areas, especially with fruit growing farmers, they are considered a pest, decimating fruit and berry harvests.  Most birds are territorial especially during breeding season. Not so, cedar waxwings - they're considered to be non-territorial. Even during the breeding season, cedar waxwings rarely show aggression towards conspecifics (members of the same species) or other species for that matter. Because their placement on the landscape is dictated by an abundance of fruit, they're often on the move flocking from patch to patch, leaving little need to establish territories. Cedar waxwings are gregarious nomads, in the truest sense.

Both sexes share nest building, with nests often constructed high in trees. Their three to five brown speckled gray eggs hatch after a 12- to 13-day incubation period in June. Young are fed insects for the first few days and then a steady diet of berries. It is believed that their late nesting is timed to coincide with the availability of abundant fruits. Young leave the nest after about 16 days of care. A second brood is often fledged in August or September. While some birds stay the winter in the Keystone State, foraging on dried berries and fruits, others fly farther south.

Their pursuit of fruit often lands them in urban and suburban neighborhoods, where there's often no shortage of fruit-bearing invasive plants. And while many birds have been found to favor fruit produced by native species over fruit produced by non-native species, that preference is only appreciable in instances where native species are present. Unfortunately, native fruit bearing plants such as various dogwoods, viburnums, and hawthorns are often missing in urban/suburban settings and replaced by nonnative, ornamental, and often invasive species such as Japanese Honeysuckle, Japanese Barberry, Privet, and Buckthorn. Hence, Cedar Waxwings moving through cities and suburbs often consume the fruit of invasive species and may aid in the spread of those species.

Sources: All About birds.org; Audubon; Heritage Conservancy.org; Wikipedia; StateCollege.com