Songbird with a mouth full today! However, I since I already talked about song birds recently, I think it’s time to give the spotlight away to someone else this week!
I wandered past some beautiful bright-colored birds this week, eyeing me from a branch while I walked past. I could almost hear them saying, “What was that?!” “Smile and wave, John. Smile and wave”.
Though I suppose they weren’t penguins… or in a zoo so maybe I’m over-imagining things!
These two were Cedar Waxwings. There are actually three types of Waxwings, and these birds were given their name due to the red markings on their wings which looked like a smudge of sealing wax back in the day!
Also, back in the day-as in the Middle Ages- the Waxwing’s migration through during the winter months was thought to bring the bubonic plague. Because of this, some still call this bird pestvogel, which translates to “plague bird” in Dutch. Thankfully, this idea of them being the main cause of the plague has since faded (for the most part), and the true criminal was revealed to be ticks and other bacterial carriers like rodents and squirrels (Roux, 2020)
On a less creepy note- Cedar Waxwings are also known for their berry-filled diet! While most birds aren’t capable of surviving solely on berries, these waxwings can do so for months! Because of this, other nest-stealing birds like cowbirds- which lay their eggs in the nests of other birds to avoid the work- don’t work so well with these waxwings. The berry-only diet kills these foreign birds more often than not (Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 2024).
Way to fight back, Waxwings!
(Shoutout to a friend who helped me with these fun facts!)
Roux, Jessica. Ornithography. Chronicle Books, 2020.
Cornell Lab of Ornithology. “Cedar Waxwing.” All About Birds, 2024. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Cedar_Waxwing/overview
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