Cedar Waxwings are everywhere

[Alan in West GA]

The past two days I have been the lucky person who has been able to enjoy hundreds of Cedar Waxwings here in west Georgia. They have been looking for berries to eat and I would love to see them get intoxicated, thats when the real birdwatching begins. Nonetheless, its always a pleasure to watch these birds which only visit in the winter. One flock that landed in a pecan tree may have numbered about 200, maybe 300. Yesterday that landed in magnolia tree but no berries were available. Just before dark they congregated in some thick bushes to call it a night. This is one of the few birds that will tolerate human presence, even at very close distance.

[helenol]

Hi Alan. What a great sight that must be. You may be interested in the following thread I've just posted:

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?p=269639#post269639

Regards

[cavan wood]

Hi Alan.

I had a similar but smaller group of cedar waxwings pass through my yard last weekend, only we're still in the middle of winter here, with snow everywhere. They landed in the trees next to the feeders, but they only stayed for about three or four minutes and took off. I posed the question in previous posting; where do these flocks spend their time all winter? No one replied to my query, but you have partially answered the question. I'm still curious about these more northern flocks that appear once or twice a winter. Are there areas in the northern part of their winter range where they are found with regularity?

Cheers,
Scott

[Alan in West GA]

Hi Alan.

I had a similar but smaller group of cedar waxwings pass through my yard last weekend, only we're still in the middle of winter here, with snow everywhere. They landed in the trees next to the feeders, but they only stayed for about three or four minutes and took off. I posed the question in previous posting; where do these flocks spend their time all winter? No one replied to my query, but you have partially answered the question. I'm still curious about these more northern flocks that appear once or twice a winter. Are there areas in the northern part of their winter range where they are found with regularity?

Cheers,
Scott

Scott, It does make you wonder about the Cedar Waxwing. You are in Canada, and I am in SE United States. That's alot of miles between us. So do some migrate south during winter, while other stay in Canada year round. I am seeing signs of an early spring here but to think that they would stay in Canada during the intense cold is amazing and i am shocked at their behavior. Usually they leave here in mid to late March and according to my Peterson guide they go to Canada during summer months. Very interesting. Maybe you should keep track of them year round and see if infact they stay all year. Thanks for the post.

[cavan wood]

Thanks for the reply Allan. Unfortunatley I only see them once or twice per winter. (More so in summer, in small groups and pairs.)

I'm not sure on the migration. Do the waxwings here stay year round and the northern birds leapfrog over them? Or do they all shift south for winter so I'm seeing different birds winter and summer?

Some observations from others throughout the contentent might be insightfull here.

Cheers,
Scott

[DavidP]

Thanks for the reply Allan. Unfortunatley I only see them once or twice per winter. (More so in summer, in small groups and pairs.)

I'm not sure on the migration. Do the waxwings here stay year round and the northern birds leapfrog over them? Or do they all shift south for winter so I'm seeing different birds winter and summer?

Some observations from others throughout the contentent might be insightfull here.

Cheers,
Scott


I had a large flock of about 40 in my garden a couple of weeks back here in southern California. Quite surprised as I've only seen a couple on my birding trips in the area so they don't appear to be too common. Certianly made ny Sunday morning watching them globbling up the berries.