Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata). Beautiful and exceptionally intelligent birds. They’re mimics. Included in their repertoire, are the calls of many hawks, particularly the Red-shouldered Hawk, and some owls. Predators that Blue Jays will avoid.
Males and females are alike except that males are a bit larger. They are monogamous, staying together for life. Both participate in nest building and raising their young, and have strong family bonds.
At your backyard feeder Blue Jays will eat most anything that you’ll put out for all the birds with the exception of Nyjer seed. I haven’t had my feeders out since late spring and plan to put them out tomorrow. I’m looking forward to seeing the Blue Jays that I’ve been hearing in the woods.
This is the second brood for this pair of Carolina Wrens (Thryothorus ludovicianus). As is normally the case, they’ve gone to a second location, abandoning their previous successful spot, which was in the antique graniteware coffee pot hanging from the porch ceiling. Now they’re on the back porch in a basket that is also hanging from the ceiling.
While Momma Wren incubates the eggs, Dad delivers food to her.
Breeding pairs of Carolina Wrens are monogamous, likely staying together for years. Depending on how far south the breeding pair is, they will have two to three broods per breeding season. The further south, the more probable it is they will have three broods.
I know the Carolina Wrens as entertaining, noisy little creatures. It’s the male that does the singing while both of them will do the chattering and scolding that I enjoy so much.
Perhaps you’ve seen this photo in the past. It’s one of my favorite images of the many many that I’ve taken. Surely I’ve used it before. These Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) are performing a mating ritual in which the pair pass a treasure (in this case a sumac berry) back and forth. No telling which is the male and which is the female in this image since their markings and plumage are the same.
A pair of Cedar Waxwings are monogamous during each breeding season and both parents participate in nest construction and rearing activities. Incubation of the two to six eggs takes two weeks.
Born blind and helpless the nestlings grow quickly and learn to fly in another two weeks. The bird above is a juvenile who has yet to grow adult plumage. Juveniles do have the yellow tail tip, although not the red wing tips, yet.
The bird in the center of the photo above has an orange tail tip. That orange coloring is due to the diet of the bird. In the late 1800s the bush, Morrow’s Honeysuckle (Lonicera morrowii), was unfortunately brought to this continent. I say unfortunately because it is an invasive. The berries of this bush contain a red pigment. If enough of these berries are eaten by a Cedar Waxwing during feather formation the tail tips will be orange rather than the usual yellow because of that red pigment. This unusual coloring began to be noticed in northeastern U.S. and southeastern Canada in the 1960’s. Unusual but no other consequences as far as is known.
These elegant birds are irruptive and gypsies wandering from fruit supply to fruit supply throughout the year. They’ll also eat insects when they’re available. They love the sound of running water and enjoy small streams, or bird baths that have drippers or as in the case above, a puddle in the middle of a lane.
They travel in bands and normally when I see them they’re with their friends the American Robin. And in case you are trying to get your terminology just right, a group of Cedar Waxwings is called an “ear-full” or a “museum” of Cedar Waxwings.
Such a sophisticated fashion statement the Cedar Waxwing makes. And what of those red wing tips? They are a waxy secretion called astaxanthin – a carotenoid pigment. Don’t worry, there won’t be a test on this. As the years go by the number and size of the tips get larger. It is believed that these appendages are used as status symbols in mate selection.
I was surprised last spring to see several Cedar Waxwings eating petals off the apple blossoms in my tree. Now I know, they eat berries and fruit, insects AND flower petals. Who would have thought?
