Thursday, December 31, 2009

Bombs Away !



This is the first time I have really noticed the cedar waxwings flocking to my neighborhood.  I am not as observant as I had hoped, because I must have certainly missed these in prior years and others have told me they frequent the woods near here.  There were perhaps twenty-five of these birds enjoying the afternoon winter sun near a county park although not making much noise which they are known for.  They could have been missed by me had I not noticed the calling cards.

I was returning to my car from a short day hike and I saw that they had also pooped berry remains all over my car windshield and hood.   Next time I will look before I park.  They are messy birds.




They are more yellow than appears in these amateur photos.  I am guessing that they wear masks so that we cannot identify who was making the mess.  Therefore, it was no surprise when I learned they were members of the Bombycilla family of birds.  They get the waxwing name because they have red waxy deposits at the ends of their secondary feathers. (Click on photo for a closer look if you dare.)

5 comments:

  1. Ugh, gross! I hope it came off the car easily.

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  2. They are really beautiful! I guess I would enjoy them even if they were making deposits around the yard and car :)

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  3. Bombycilla is their perfect classification!

    Although perhaps some of their beauty may make up for their messiness.

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  4. Berry Poop, huh???? Yuk... That old white stuff is bad enough.... Hope you had a change to run your car through the car wash...

    I do love seeing the Cedar Waxwings, Tabor, since we don't have them here (that I know of) I saw them last year while searching for a waterfall... Beautiful!!!

    Happy New Year.
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  5. We see the waxwings every once in awhile on the other side of our fence in neighboring yards, where the waxleaf ligustrums are heavy with berries. Hope they drop their bombs on that side!

    The word Bombycilla kept nagging at me as if I'd heard it before... finally figured out it reminded me of the giant Mullein, Verbascum bombyciferum mentioned by Henry Mitchell.

    Happy 2010, Tabor!

    Annie at the Transplantable Rose

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Glad to hear from you once again. I really like these visits. Come sit on this log and tell me what you are thinking.