Cedar Waxwing Mini Original

These strikingly beautiful birds are native to the US and live year-round in the upper contiguous states. Their name comes from their appetite for cedar berries in winter and ‘waxy’ red tips of some birds’ secondary wings. They have a silky, smooth appearance with a tan and grey body, black mask, and lemon-yellow lower belly and tail tip. This is another bird that sports a crest.

Waxwings are very sociable all year, flocking by the hundreds at times. Their song is a thin, high-pitched whistle, like someone is blowing on a very small whistle. They’re found in forested areas, wetlands, scrublands, and urban areas with ornamental berry trees in landscaping. The thing to remember with these birds: they LOVE fruit! They can survive in fruit alone for several months, dining on berries from trees and shrubs, even passing a berry up and down a line until one of them eats it. They strike me as the “Dionysus” of the bird world; occasionally, they become intoxicated or even die if eating fruit that is overripe/fermented. Aside from dining on fruit all day, they display impressive aeronautics, catching insects mid-air.

Males and females look similar, while juveniles are more streaked with the yellow-tipped tail. Pairs peruse nest sites together, and the female chooses the site, building the nest over 5-6 days from various materials. They occasionally save time by taking material from other birds’ nests. During courtship, males and females hop towards each other, alternating back and forth and sometimes touching their bills together. Males often pass a small item (fruit, insect, or flower petal) to the female. After taking the fruit, the female usually hops away and then returns giving back the item to the male. They repeat this a few times until, typically, the female eats the gift.

Original mixed media on raw stretched canvas with maple float frame.