Wandering Waxwings

     For about an hour on the afternoon of April 15 of this year, we watched about 40 cedar waxwings picking at the fluffy, yellow-with-pollen catkins of our large, male pussy willow shrub in our suburban lawn.  And when not feeding in that bush, many of the waxwings, at once, were drinking water from our bird bath and a neighbor's outdoor goldfish pond.  I saw flocks of waxwings drink at puddles and pools before like that and wondered why they did that so frequently.  I read an article on the web that waxwings drink often to hydrate themselves when ingesting sugary fruit and berries.  It seemed likely they were consuming sugar along with the materials of the willow catkins, which were available in abundance in our yard.  The waxwings might also have been eating tiny insects in the catkins, as I once saw a small group of ruby-crowned kinglets do in April several years ago. 
     Cedar waxwings, Bohemian waxwings and certain other kinds of birds ingest insects in summer, berries in fall and winter and tree and shrub flowers in spring when berries and insects are not abundant.  In spring, waxwings eat the blossoms of fruit trees, and the catkins of the trees and bushes that bear them.  Waxwings also consume tree sap that drips from wounds in trees early in spring, all of which put sugar in their diets.  But since waxwings wander like gypsies, they really don't damage the woody plants they visit to get food. 
     The cedar waxwings in the pussy willow on our lawn were there about an hour, then they all flew away as a group at once around 4:00 pm, not to return the rest of that day.  But the next afternoon they were back, but not for long.  Soon after they settled in our pussy willow to feed on the catkins loaded with pollen and sugar, they all flew away again in swift flight.  And a couple of seconds later I saw why!  A large Cooper's hawk swept into our lawn in hot pursuit of the waxwings.  And within another second, the waxwings and hawk were out of sight.  But the speed of both species of birds was thrilling to see!
     Cedar waxwings are beautiful little birds.  They are about six inches long, a little bigger than sparrows, and are mostly light brown in color.  But each bird also has a crest, a black bib, a black mask over each eye, red, wax-like structures on the secondary feathers of each wing and a yellow tip to the brown tail.  And they have speedy, straight-forward flight.
     Flocks of cedar waxwings, often a few score or more in a gathering, wander across the countryside like gypsies in winter, stopping here, then there, then another place to feed on berries until the berries are practically all eaten at each spot.  Then the waxwings move on again.  A here today and gone tomorrow thing.  In summer, however, waxwings consume flying insects that they catch on the wing, but they also ingest fruits of the season, such as mulberries and serviceberries in June and July.
     In summer, cedar waxwings form pairs that nest as individual pairs dispersed along creeks and streams shaded by scattered large trees.  Waxwings build shallow cups of twigs and grass among twigs of trees where they hatch and raise young in mid to late summer.  It is then that flying insects, fruits and berries are abundant to feed their young, and themselves.
     It's always a thrill to see the lovely cedar waxwings in large groups in winter, as they eat a variety of berries.  And I was impressed by the waxwings' getting foods from our pussy willow's catkins until chased out by the Cooper's hawk.  Wandering waxwings are wonderful to experience.