Cedar Waxwing

Winter brings some of our favorite visitors from the north. Flocks of American Robins, Goldfinch, and Cedar Waxwings are spending the next few months on our Gulf Coast.  The Wildlife Center received its first Cedar Waxwing of the season. The patient is a gorgeous adult who flew into a window and sustained a minor head trauma as well as soft tissue damage to a wing.  Medications were administered and he has been put on cage rest.   The Cedar Waxwing is a finely tailored bird. Beautiful shades of tan and pale cinnamon melt into a soft yellow belly and dove gray back. The tail darkens from a soft gray to black and is banded along the tips in bright yellow. The wings sport a spot or two of bright red. He appears to be dressed for a winter ball. These birds are very gregarious during migration and it isn’t uncommon to see a cloud of them descend upon a berry producing bush and strip it bare. They can be found congregating is open areas that offer good meals of berries, insects, sap and flowers. The prognosis for the patient is good. If you find any of these special visitors laying in your yard, gently pick it up and place in a box, keep warm with a rice sock or heating pad set on low and bring it to the Wildlife Center.