Waxwings - Trim, polite and modest

By Al Lowe
Contributor

Across the southern parts of Northern Ontario, you may see flocks of these birds in your yard or in the trees. Numbers of them together will move with steady purpose through the trees of orchard, woods or lawn.
Waxwings seem to be the refined members of the bird organization. They are always trim and neat. Their main colouring is modest brown, set off with accents of yellow on the tail and underbelly. They have very neat crests which they can raise and lower when they feel like it. The name 'waxwing' comes from the secondary wing feathers. At the very tips of these feathers are tiny red drops of material, which look exactly like drops of old-fashioned sealing wax.
These birds' voices are also very gentlemanly - all quiet and refined, described as a low hissing or buzzing sound. When they are feeding, they tend to 'pass around' a choice berry or seed. And so we say they are polite, although politeness has nothing at all to do with it.
There are two species of waxwings in Canada. The one we would be most likely to see is the Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedorum). One of this bird's favourite foods in the winter is the little brown berries from the cedar trees. The other bird is the Bohemian Waxwing (Bombycilla garrulus). This is a northwestern bird which may, and often does, wander into Northwestern Ontario in the winter.
Waxwings seem to be always in flocks - up to several thousand at a time. One report from the early 1800's reports a flock "so dense as to rival in numbers those of the wild pigeon." They are also voracious feeders. When they land on a tree to eat, they usually strip the tree bare of fruits, or berries or insects before they leave. They are especially fond of fruit, and the Mountain Ash, both cultivated and wild, is a favourite. Another favourite is the domestic cherry, and this is the only destructive aspect of this bird. When the cherries are ripe, they can do immense damage to an orchard in just a few hours.
The courtship of birds is sometimes a very puzzling and intriguing study. In the mating season, the waxwings do it this way. The male bird will take a little piece of leaf, and fly near the female of his choice. After a few seconds, he hops sideways to her, and gives her the leaf. Then he goes back to his place. After the same number of seconds, she hops to him, gives the leaf back to him, and hops back to her place. This goes on and on, as a sort of puppet-like dance - sometimes for hours, until something is settled, and they go off to set up housekeeping. Who knows what triggers this kind of behaviour in animals?
Eating everything in sight is a habit which sometimes pays big dividends for the environment. Waxwings alone have often been known to clear up infestations of tent caterpillars, sawflies, cankerworms, and many kinds of beetles.
Eating until you can hardly move can be of benefit, as long as we leave it to the birds.