The Sweet Cedar Waxwing
The sweet Cedar Waxwing is found throughout Ohio. It lives in open woodlands, orchards and residential areas. Most important, the cedar waxwing looks for fruit bearing trees and bushes when looking for a nesting spot.
This bird is soft brown to gray color with a distinct black mask over the eyes and a black chin. The Cedar Waxwing has a light yellow belly and a vivid yellow band on the tips of its tail feathers. It gets its name from the red tips of its secondary wing feathers. These red tips look like wax has been dripped onto the feathers.
The nest of the Cedar Waxwing is typically made up of dry grasses, moss, pine needles and small twigs. They are not particular about where they build the nest, as long as it has a good feeding area close by.
Cedar Waxwings are frugivorous, meaning they eat mostly fruits. They prefer a wide variety of berries such as strawberries, wild cherries, and cedar berries. The Cedar Waxwing has a big appetite and commonly will gorge themselves until they can’t eat anymore and can’t even fly! In addition to fruits, cedar waxwings enjoy eating insects such as ants, cicadas, and caterpillars.
Being very social birds, the cedar waxwing is commonly seen in flocks varying in size from 4 to over 40. Large flocks have been watched as they strip shrubs of all their berries in a matter of minutes.
The Cedar Waxwing is a very quiet bird. It has been said that they are a “bird without a song”. However, the cedar waxwing really does sing a sweet song mixing single notes with high-pitched trills. They are quiet so in order to hear them sing, you have to be pretty close to this delicate bird.
Aren't the Cedar Waxwings Sweet?
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