What do we do when we just don’t know what to do? We take one step at a time until we complete the day. Whatever needs to be done, we do and we continue from one step to the next remaining calm as we move to the next task. As the days of confusion continue in our country we often awake with a feeling like what’s going to happen today?
Tomorrow is Inauguration Day as I write this article and the country does not know what to expect from normally law abiding citizens. We never know what a day may bring, so we must look for the good in each day and appreciate even the common moments. Today we need not worry about tomorrow, because we can get excited about a bird that will soon be coming to Senatobia. I have a shrub in my yard called a Leatherleaf Mahonia and during the winter it produces grape type berries. The berries will begin to ripen in February and Cedar Waxwings are one of the birds that eat this berry.
I became aware of Cedar Waxwings years ago. A friend of mine that is no longer with us, Dorothy Lipscomb, called me one day in February and said that there was a flock of birds that had just arrived in her yard to eat some berries. She showed me a photo of a beautiful bird, but I had never seen or heard of them. Birds & Blooms calls them “Masked Berry Bandits – built for gobbling fruit, Cedar Waxwings are striking, social birds.”
The reason that it is said that they gobble the fruit is because they pluck the berries one by one and swallow them whole. Waxwings also eat berries from juniper bushes, honeysuckle, dogwood, cedar, hawthorn and winterberry. Insects such as mayflies, dragonflies, and stoneflies are part of their diet. In addition to these insects, they will pick off scale insects, spruce budworm, and leaf beetles from our plants. In addition to berries and insects, I wondered if there was something that I could do to entice them to stay longer and have them visit me next year.
On Wild Birds Forever’s site they suggest that you chop or slice apples, raisins or currants and put them on a platform feeder. They appreciate fresh water in a bird bath as well as having tempting foods.
Cedar Waxwings do look like bandits because of the black feather mask around their eyes. They are a medium sized bird, and their coloring is mostly brown, gray and yellow with a red stripe on his wing. They travel in groups of five to up to a whole flock so when you seen one you will soon see a group join him.
Cornell Lab says that they are increasingly being found in towns and suburbs. Waxwing populations are growing and are currently not on the North America’s Watch List. But, if you plant berry bushes don’t plant them near a high traffic area because they become so focused on the berries that they have been known to hit car windshields as they fly to the berries.
The female Waxwing is similar to the male in appearance. One of the main differences is that the male has black throat feathers and the female has brownish-black throat feathers. Another difference is that the male’s tail is broader than the female’s. During courtship, males and females hop back and forth towards each other and touch each other’s bills. Also during this time, males will pass a small item such as a flower petal, berry or an insect to the female, but even though she eats his gift, she may ignore his advances and simply fly away.
Waxwings are only passing through so enjoy them if they visit your yard during February. As we continue to “Look at the birds of the air…” (Matthew 6:26) we can be transported from all the troubles that surround us and I have a “peaceful, easy feeling” come over us. My photos may be viewed & “LIKED” on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest - “Birdie of Mississippi”. E-mail: birdieofmississippi@gmail.com - Read my Blog @ http://www.birdieofmississippi.blogspot.com
