Today, while I was out checking the bird feeders and pond, I heard a faint ‘zeee’ that I have never heard before. As I concentrated on this new sound in the garden, I realized that it was en mass.

I began to focus on the waves of birds gently flying from the berry bushes to the tall trees and realized that I was looking at my very first flock of Cedar Waxwings, also known as an ‘ear-full.’
Check out the yellow band on the tip of their tails. I could not see the waxy red tips on their secondary wing feathers for which they are named. I have read that they are not always easy to see. Maybe they’re tucked under their folded wings.

Did you know Cedar Waxwings:

• LOVE fruit and can live on fruit alone for several months of the year?
• can get drunk from consuming
  overripe berries, whose fermentation produces alcohol?
• eat in shifts; one group moving out of the way so the other group can eat?
• are great seed dispersers.

Remember, when planning your garden, try to include berry-producing plants as a late season food source for birds and other wildlife

I hope you have enjoyed this rarely seen find as much as I have.

May you have a blessed Thanksgiving holiday. By the way, bird watching can help burn off a big meal. Let us know what you see.

Happy Gardening!