Cedar Waxwings [Bombycilla cedrorum] are beautiful birds with a diet that includes a lot of fruit. They can survive on fruit alone for months at a time. If they are not careful of fermented fruit, they are susceptible to alcohol intoxication and could even die of alcohol poisoning.
Starting around the 1960s, some Cedar Waxwings were found with orange tips on their tails instead of the usual yellow. This is due to a red pigment found in an introduced honeysuckle species that will turn a growing tail feather orange.
Information from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Cedar Waxwing
All About Birds
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Rick Wright 10.06.08 at 12:20 pm
Here’s an article about yellows, oranges, and reds in birds that dine on exotic fruits:
http://aba.org/birding/v39n5p62.pdf
Lana 10.07.08 at 10:54 pm
I’ve always loved waxwings. I’ve only ever seen one, though…a bohemian waxwing that mom got away from her cat. After we let it recouperate a minute, she let me release it from the cage & off it went. It was nice to have close access to it, though, even if only briefly.