An Irruption of Bohemian Waxwings

Besides the wary wild ducks, there are also landbirds that wear plumage that is beautifully textured and patterned, but they are usually small, secretive, and very active. One of the few birds that is both well dressed and easy to find and study is the cedar waxwing, a bird common in New England the year round.

Like the ducks, the colors of the waxwing are not especially bright, but they are rich and subtle. Edward Forbush describes the dress of the cedar waxwing as "velvet black brightening into fawn, melting browns, shifting saffrons, quaker drabs, pale blue-gray and slate." The only bright colors they have are the tiny red and yellow droplets on the ends of some of their wing feathers.

Those droplets have the shiny appearance of sealing wax, which is how the bird got its English name. In Europe, the bird was originally called the silktail, and its Latin name, 'bombycilla,' means just that. It would not be too far off to say this bird appears draped in silk and satin, and resembles a caped and masked marauder.

The bird in Europe is not the cedar waxing, however, but another member of the waxwing family with very similar appearance and habits. This other waxwing is a northern species present in both Eurasia and America which has earned the name 'Bohemian.' The area in Europe called Bohemia is not normally part of this bird's range, so the name refers to this waxwing's highly wandering ways.

The Bohemian waxwing is larger than the cedar, gray overall, rather than tan, with a striking white wing stripe. Where the cedar waxwing is whitish yellow under the tail, the Bohemian is a rich cinnamon. They both share the black throat and mask through the eye that gives the birds the rakish look of a bandit. A sleek crest on the back of the head reinforces that impression.

Like many northern species of birds, it is a gypsy. After nesting is done, they gather and travel in large gangs, like roving bandits, until they find the food they prefer. That food happens to be the fruit of trees and shrubs. In America, the Bohemian waxwing nests in the high evergreen forests of northwestern Alaska and Canada, and most of these birds move in winter to the Rocky Mts. and the Plains.

The size of the wandering groups of waxwings can be tremendous, and early naturalists marveled that they sometimes gathered in congregations that rivaled those of the legendary passenger pigeon. As early as 1919, it was noted that this species also sometimes moved east as well as south. That winter, birds were found in Maine, and even a few reports came from Massachusetts.

In December 1968, an unprecedented invasion began in western Massachusetts, with flocks of many hundred found in various places all that winter. Since then, we have come to realize that a few Bohemian waxwings come to us almost every year, accompanying the regular flocks of cedar waxwings. There have been other incursions of substantial numbers, and this winter that occurred again.

The Allen Bird Club takes a trip to Turner's Falls every spring near the first of April, looking for waterfowl and the nesting bald eagles at Barton's Cove. After enjoying that view first-eye, we crossed the river into the downtown area, where the city streets had been planted with crabapple trees.

These trees produce small fruit in abundance, and it is a favorite food of the waxwings. Mixed flocks of both kinds of waxwings numbering two hundred or more had been coming to these trees for several weeks, methodically stripping the branches. We found about ten of the Bohemians with fifty or more cedar waxwings working one of the few trees that had plenty of untouched fruit.

We heard the light chatter of the Bohemian as well as the thin lisp of the cedar waxwing as they circled us in undulating flocks before alighting in the tall trees next to the crabapples. These are tame birds and we could approach closely and study the muted beauty of their plumage. The sight of them is payment enough for their free meals, as it would go to waste on these busy city streets if not for this beautiful and fearless fruit bandit.