I am getting mildly obsessive about finding a cedar waxwing nest. I think there is at least one pair nesting at Somme Woods, the forest preserve where I am doing a survey of nesting birds. There may be several, but I haven’t been able to get close to pinning down even the approximate location of any nests.
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On a few occasions I have seen a single bird hawking for insects from the top branches of a tall dead tree. Hawking, also called flycatching, is a style of hunting. The bird sits quietly on an exposed perch until it sees a likely insect flying by, then it makes a quick sally, snatches the bug from the air, and returns to its perch. Most of my sightings have been of flocks, 10 or 12 birds flying together, just as they do in the winter.
I only half believe that cedar waxwings build nests anyway. They are such elegant birds that it is hard to imagine them engaged in the grubbier aspects of child rearing. It’s like visualizing Fred Astaire changing a diaper or poking spoonfuls of oatmeal into a six-month-old baby. A waxwing’s plumage is delicate and understated: soft browns fade to yellow on the belly. A simple yellow band adorns the tip of the tail. The bright red tips on the secondary feathers of the wing provide a splash of color–imagine Astaire with a red carnation on the lapel of his tailcoat. The waxwing’s crest and the black mask over its eyes add a slightly rakish air to its appearance.
The Japanese waxwing is exclusively Old World, nesting in the forests of Siberia and China, and wintering in Japan, Taiwan, and Korea, among other places.
Northern forests have far fewer species, so fruit-eating birds often have to travel long distances in search of a meal, hence the nomadic habit. Northern seedeaters, notably the crossbills, use a similar strategy. Crossbills feed on conifer seeds that they extract from cones with their unique beaks, and they travel constantly in search of good seed crops. Like the waxwings, they nest when and where food is available, regardless of season. Crossbills are even known to nest in the middle of northern winters if there is enough food around to support them and their young.
