Fwd: Birding Lunch & Learn Feb. 18th @ Schupf Center Lobby 11:30 am - 1:00 pm
Diane Weinstein
Spring Birdwatching
TU, 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Waterville Site - Mid-Maine Adult Education
Ian Lynch, Instructor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uug6Tuc24FE
Cedar and Bohemian Waxwings | The Peaceable Flock Birds
Did you know Waxwings are small starling-sized birds with a prominent crest and colorful markings. They move around in large flocks feeding heavily on one or more fruit trees when the food supply is depleted, they move on to the next supply. Waxwings specialize in eating fruit and can survive on fruit alone for months. This is something very few birds in North America can do. A consequence of this type of diet though is intoxication. This happens when Waxwings eat too many over ripe berries that have begun to ferment. These drunk Waxwings can face serious dangers as they aren't able to fly properly. Bringing intoxicated birds to a rehabilitation center can save their lives.
A group of Waxwings is called an earful or a museum of Waxwings. The name Waxwing comes from the waxy red secretions found on the tips of the secondaries of some birds. The wax tips are colored by acetaxatin, a carotenoid pigment. Both females and males wear waxed tips. Its purpose was a mystery and was once thought that the red tips functioned to protect feathers from wear and tear but there is little to no evidence this hypothesis. However, a study from 1987 by James Mountjoy and Rayleigh Robertson of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario revealed that secondary tips seem to be status signals that function in mate selection. This is what we know about the waxy tips: they seem to increase in number and size with a bird's age; individuals with zero to five waxy tips seem to be immature birds while those with greater than nine are thought to be older; young birds pair up with other members of their peer group while the older birds mate within their own age group; when the team observed mates of peers they noticed that the two birds belong to the same tip index category, this helps the birds to match and mate according to age. It was also discovered that mating pairs with greater than nine waxy tips nest earlier and raise more young than do immature birds. This really seems to solidify the idea that the greater the amount of tips the older the bird and the older the bird the more experience. So these waxy tips seem to take the guesswork out of choosing the right mate.
Cedar Waxwings are found throughout much of North America. The breeding range of these Waxwings stretches from Alaska southwards across Canada to Newfoundland and the northern half of the USA including northwestern Nevada and northern Georgia. in the winter they are found across southern Canada through the USA and southwards as far as Panama. The greater number of this species is found on the southeastern coastal plains of the USA during the winter but it is also known to visit Bermuda and the Caribbean region in the northeastern US.
In the southeastern Canada in the 1960s, Cedar Waxwings with orange instead of yellow tail tips began appearing. The orange color is the result of red pigment picked up from the berries of an introduced species of honeysuckle. If a Waxwing eats enough of the berries while it is growing a tail feather, the tip of the feather will be orange. Many birds that eat a lot of fruit separate out the seeds and regurgitate them, but the Cedar Waxwing lets them pass right through. Scientists have used this trait to estimate how fast Waxwings can digest fruits. Cedar Waxwings are social birds that form large flocks. Often they nest in loose clusters of dozen or so nests. During courtship males and females hop towards each other alternating back and forth and sometimes touching their bills together. Males often pass a small item like a fruit insect or flower petal to the female. After taking the fruit the female usually hops away and then returns, giving back the item to the male. They repeat this a few times until typically the female eats the gift.
Cedar Waxwings have a strong steady flight with fairly constant wing beats. Often they are heard before they are seen so learning their high-pitched call notes can be useful in identifying them. You can look for them low in berry bushes, high in evergreens or along rivers and over ponds. Also be sure to check big flocks of small birds. Waxwings are similar to starlings in size and shape and often form big unruly flocks that grow shrink divide and rejoin like starling flocks. These birds are described as happy campers due to their lack of avian dominance. Entire flocks of 30 plus Waxwings appear to get along wonderfully while feasting on the fruits of a tree such as a crab apple tree.
The Bohemian Waxwing is found in the northwestern regions of the continent. They are an irregular winter visitor from the far north. Usually, they come to the states and provinces along the United States Canada border and a bit further southward in the west. Their breeding grounds are in the sub-arctic regions of northern Europe, Siberia, Alaska and western Canada. In autumn they migrate south of their breeding range. As with the Cedar WaxwingS, Bohemian Waxwings have a peaceable nature and spend most of its life in flocks too.
When feeding, they will often settle at the top of a tree near to a source of food, kind of like a staging area. Then a small group of about eight or ten birds will fly down to the source of berries to feed shortly after another 10 birds will fly down to eat, and then another 10, and so on. This rotating in and out of the food source sequentially and orderly allows for everyone to get their turn to eat. With bathing similar pattern of taking turns can be observed. When water sources are limited, a social cooperation and sharing food as Waxwings do isn't typical behavior of flock birds. Usually there is a lot of chaos and tough competition for the food found within flocks. Berries are swallowed whole and they eat up to three times their weight of fruit in a day. Individuals have been known to swallow 300 berries in two hours. To help digest large quantities of berries, the Bohemian Waxwing drinks copiously and will eat snow and catch snowflakes. They also catch flying insects making them to be a flycatcher as is the case with the other two Waxwing species.
Bohemian Waxwings are a little larger than Cedar Waxwings measuring about 16 to 19 centimeters and weighing 45 to 69 grams. Occasionally Bohemian Waxwings are seen in enormous flocks in eastern Canada and the northern parts of the United States. This is most often when their local food supplies aren't plentiful. The name Bohemian refers to the nomadic movements of winter flocks. They do not hold breeding territories and this likely has to do with the fact that the fruits they eat are abundant but available only for short periods. One consequence of this non-territorial lifestyle is that it has no true song; it does not need one to defend a territory. The oldest recorded Bohemian Waxwing was at least five years ten months old when it was found in British Columbia in 1973. It had been banded in Saskatchewan in 1968.
Swallow Identification Quick Guide
Swallows are extremely agile fliers, and it can be overwhelming trying to quickly pick through a flock to identify all of the birds. Fortunately, it's not a terribly large family group, with only six expected species in most of the east. Once you learn what to look for, and with a little sharpening of your binocular skills to find and track a specific bird, you should be able to ID each one quickly and accurately. Note that juvenile birds can look a bit different, and the full range is not covered here. That's not really a problem in the spring.
Tree Swallow
This common species is the default for comparison, so learn it very well.
- Clean white underside, with sharp contrast between the cheek and throat area
- The upperside is a solid metallic blue, but some are fairly brown
- Juveniles are especially brown, and have a weak chest band (Bank Swallow always has a strongly-defined chest band)
Clean white underside
Metallic blue upperside
Clean white underside constrasting with dark cheek
Clean white underside constrasting with dark cheek
Metallic blue upperside, with dark cheek contrasting with white throat
Some have a fairly brown upperside (especially juveniles)
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
A generally brown swallow with not much contrast in its plumage.
- Brownish throat that does not contrast with the cheeks
- Diffuse brownish wash on underside, particularly in the chest area, lacking any crisp markings
- Brown upperside
Brown wash on underside
Young birds look very similar to adults
Brown upperside and brownish throat
Brown wash on underside
Brown upperside
Brown wash on underside
Bank Swallow
Another "brown" swallow, but pretty dainty (both in size and flight style) compared to our other swallows, and more contrast than Northern Rough-winged Swallow.
- Like in Tree Swallow, the underside is mostly white, but with a very crisp brown chest band
- Brown upperside
- Compared to Northern Rough-winged Swallow, notice the crisp chest band and dainty build
- Juvenile Tree Swallows can have an indistinct chest band, but never as clean and crisp as Bank Swallow
White underside with dark chest band
Even at a distance, the chest band appears very clean and crisp
Dainty build, white underside with dark chest band
White underside with dark chest band
Brown upperside
White underside with dark chest band
Barn Swallow
Pretty common, at times quite numerous. Extremely distinctive shape. The silhouette alone is enough to identify this species.
- Underside of body can be orange or white
- Dark orange throat
- Dark blue upperside
- Long, deeply forked tail (juveniles have a shorter tail)
Blue upperside, orange underside, dark orange throat and forehead
Blue upperside, dark orange throat and forehead
Notice the long forked tail, which is distinctive among the expected swallows
Long tail, dark orange throat
Classic “swallow shape” silhouette
Can be orange or white underneath
Cliff Swallow
Colorful, like Barn Swallow, but with a white forehead, square tail and pale rump
- Dark throat, pale body
- Square tail helps separate from Barn Swallow (caution: young Barn Swallows lack the deeply forked tail of the adults)
- Dark blue upperside with conspicuous pale rump, which separates it from all other expected swallows (see Cave Swallow below)
- Adults in the east have a white forehead
Blue cap, dark orange throat and white forehead
Blue cap, dark orange throat and white forehead
Dark headed overall with a white forehead
Dark throat and cheeks, square tail and white forehead
Distinct pale rump is visible even at a distance
White forehead, dark throat
Purple Martin
Often localized. Typically nest in close proximity to humans, using martin houses or gourds.
- Larger than the rest of the swallows covered here, with a bulkier structure
- Plumage ranges from grayish (young birds and females) to very dark blue (males)
- Tail slightly more forked than the rest of the swallows, except for Barn Swallow
- Be careful not to mistake European Starling for this species
Males are a dark blue color above and below
Females and immature birds are more gray on the underside
Note more forked tail and dark blue color underneath
Females and immature birds are more gray on the underside
Bulky structure, fairly forked tail, dark blue color
Females and immature birds are more gray on the underside
Other species to be aware of
Cave Swallow
Extremely similar to Cliff Swallow, and also very rare in most eastern locations. If you come across a very late Cliff-like swallow, it is worth considering, but should be identified only with extreme care.
- Pale cheek and throat strongly contrasting with dark cap
- Dark forehead vs white on Cliff (caution: young Cliff Swallows and adults in certain populations can have a dark forehead)
Chimney Swift
Make sure what you are looking at is actually a swallow! Chimney Swifts sometimes group with swallows, and are also good fliers.
- Mostly gray
- Distinctive "cigar with wings" shape
- Short tail and long wings
Common Nighthawk
Neither a swallow nor a hawk, this species belongs to the nightjar family. They are larger than swallows, with distinctive white bars in the wings.
