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
Birdfreak.com Runs on Thesis
Thesis is the world's best WordPress theme whether you are just beginning a blog or running a fully featured online publishing business. With its amazing ability to customize and the groundbreaking use of hooks to arrange content, even non-code geeks can easily get on board.
The pristine framework of Thesis enables any blog to run more efficiently, produce better search engine optimization, and reach your audience in a cleaner, more efficient way. Thesis also comes with the best support forum the web has ever seen.
The following files are available free of charge for you to download and distribute. They will be periodically updated with new information.
{ 1 trackback }
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Here’s an article about yellows, oranges, and reds in birds that dine on exotic fruits:
http://aba.org/birding/v39n5p62.pdf
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.