WAXWINGS- A WINTER'S DELIGHT

OCCURRENCE, SEXING, AGEING AND GALLERY

by Ian McKerchar

OCCURRENCE

Above: One of the true pleasure's of the winter season in the county, a Waxwing influx in full flow. (Photo by Adrian Dancy)

Above: Waxwings are certainly unmistakeable on views as good as this and they remain the sole species in the Western Palearctic to be of their size, display waxy tips to the secondaries and such a distinct crest. (Photo by Adrian Dancy)

Above: There is nothing to confuse them with here, their crests visible as they are but note also their broad bills appearing almost conical in shape and their generally upright stance. (Photo by Paul Cliff)

Above: Unmistakeable even in silhouette, note their very square looking tails. (Photo by Mark Rigby)

Above: In flight, their ringing calls (which are of course also given whilst perched) are often compared to the ringing of a small bell but are both distinctive and unmistakeable either way! They are often compared to and occasionally mistaken for Starlings in flight but note Waxwings short, thick neck and short blunt bill giving rise to a subtly distinct profile, also the white tips to the primary coverts are plainly visible as a short white 'bar' on the outer wing on most of the birds. (Photo by Paul Cliff)

Above: Whilst berries are their first and foremost food during their winter county invasions, their diet is remarkably varied with insects making up the bulk of their summer diet particularly consisting of mosquitoes and midges whilst flower buds, beetles and fruit also on the menu. In winter though their diet remains predominantly of berries, chiefly Rowan and Hawthorn but can also include a wide variety of other species when and where available. In hard winters they will also visit bird tables and consume scraps with bacon rind, bread, cold porridge, orange, banana and carrot being noted and the drinking of tree sap has also been uncommonly observed. The bark of some trees will also be eaten as will stones and earth although it is likely these are taken for roughage and to aid digestion respectively. (Photo by Adrian Dancy)

Above: Waxwings have been noted to consume up to 2 to 3 times their own body weight in berries a day and county birders can certainly vouch for their ability to reduce large berry crops to nothing but an empty tree in no time at all. Not surprisingly this volume of consumption produces prolific quantities of faeces with birds making their typical short visits to berry trees and feeding with such intensity that they appear to be consuming and excreting in equally large proportions at the same time! Unsurprisingly, they also consume large quantities of water or even snow and the county record flock of 510 Waxwings on the 8th of March 1996 used the roof of a Poundstretcher store in Stockport to drink from pooled water there. (Photo by Paul Cliff)

Above: In recent years Waxwings have been intensively ringed at various locations in the United Kingdom and more often than not, county flocks contain one or two of these colour-ringed birds which gives us some idea of their movements. The bird above (left) was originally ringed in Aberdeen on the 9th November 2008 and was resighted in Edinburgh on the 3rd December 2008 before been seen and photographed at Woodley Precinct, Stockport on the 2nd January 2009. (Photo by Ian Worsley)

Above: It is all too obvious to see their appeal for birders but often their occurrence in large flocks at ornamental berry trees in housing estates, town centres, retail parks and the like draws the attention of the non-birding general public who are equally enamoured by their bright plumage and the close quarter observations they often allow. (Photo by Jill Islam)

Above: Whilst our general opinions seems to consider Waxwings a mainly a tree dwelling species they are of course not adverse to feeding from the ground to clear up fallen berries. (Photo by Adrian Dancy)

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