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Stephanie Sipp, illustrator<\/p><\/div>\n
A medium-sized passerine, about the size and shape of a Starling, they are a member of the Bombycillidae<\/em> family, which also includes the Bohemian Waxwing. Males and females are almost indistinguishable, with the only difference being the male\u2019s chin having a slightly darker coloration. These waxwings are found year-round in the upper half of the US and winter in parts of the southeast including Western North Carolina. Look for them in flocks (sometimes up to 100 together!) feeding on cedar berries (true to their name) and also a plethora of other berries like winterberry, hawthorn, juniper and serviceberry. Most of their diet year-round consists of fruit and they even breed later than most songbirds, awaiting sun-ripened fruits that will nourish them during the nesting process. Due to this high fruit diet, they oftentimes become intoxicated\u2014or worse, die\u2014from consuming over-ripened berries that have fermented. Insects like spiders, beetles and earthworms provide protein in warmer months to supplement their diet and aid in nesting nutrition.<\/p>\n During nesting season, they build nests as high as 50 feet on jutting branches of trees, like white oak and cedar species, and they will usually have one to two broods a season. These extremely social birds forage together and typically move nomadically, not particularly concerned with territory. They have almost cartoonish behavior and have been observed perched in rows on a tree, passing berries from one to the other down a line and then back up!<\/p>\n With many residential landscapes having shrubs and trees with fruit, like holly and mistletoe, it\u2019s a welcome sight to see them feeding close by your home. But you will often hear their collective high-pitched, cricket-like calls, that sound like \u201csree, sree, sree\u201d before you actually encounter them. The Cedar Waxwing typically inhabits areas that offer a mix of open spaces and shrubby areas: the edges of mixed woodlands, parks and gardens.<\/p>\n They are a welcome sight to see and, fortunate for us, they are not currently considered endangered, their populations remaining stable. However, as is true with all species of birds, habitat destruction and climate change pose potential threats to their future. Maintaining healthy ecosystems that support fruit-bearing plants is crucial for their continued success so we can enjoy these waxwings for a long time to come.<\/p>\n