Waxwing gift passing display

 After a long hiatus, I came across some Waxwings today. Six individuals were perched high up on a Lime tree, taking the sun in. They were quite active, changing branches, pecking the shiny, red tree buds. Two in particular called my attention, as they approached each other touching bills, then coming apart. I took plenty of photos, some unfocused by branches getting in the way, but, looking at them in more detail back at home, I noticed that the two individuals 'billing' were doing more than that, they were exchanging an object, probably one of the tree buds, in a ritual display called 'gift passing' (top shot). The behaviour is seen both in the Bohemian Waxwing, which we get in irruption years in the UK, and in the American Cedar Waxwing. 

The behaviour consist on passing an object, then the individual with the object jumps away, then joins its mate, which 'receives' the object, then the behaviour is repeated and the object passed backwards and forwards repeatedly.

The individual on the left has the gift now.

The individual on the right has it now. Note the raised crests.

Here a Waxwing shows interest in the bright red, shiny buds of the lime tree.

And here, another individual holds some buds in its bill.

I found a description of the behaviour, based on captive individuals and illustrated with photos, which shows that the display is also accompanied from fluffed rump and belly feathers, raised crest and lowered tail, the latest something not very obvious in my photos. The male appears to initiate the behaviour, obtaining the object, and sidling to the female, presenting it. If successful she will accept the object and reciprocate, after jumping away, then close. It is difficult to sex Waxwings, males apparently have longer crests and a more clearly delimited black chin patch.

This is a clip of the behaviour in the Cedar Waxwing, there seems to be a lack of recordings for the Bohemian Waxwing, although the description and my observations fits both species sharing this wonderful display.

More Information

Meaden, F. M. & Harrison, C. J. O. Courtship display in the Waxwing. British Birds 58, 206–208 (1965)

Colour-ringed Waxwings

I went to see the Hessle waxwings this morning, where a flock has been present since last Friday. Straight away, I saw two photographers looking at a tree. I soon joined them and the 18-strong flock was there, in a small street-lining cherry tree, facing the strong westerly wind. The light was beautiful compared to my previous Waxwing sightings, most of the time in the depths of winter. The birds were quite mobile, trilling and moving from tree to tree before descending to the unlikely source of berries this time of year: hawthorns.

No supermarket car pars, but car dealerships this time.

The 18 strong flock. 

Berries, what berries?
Probably most hawthorns in the country were stripped of berries long ago. Not these. The leaves of some of them sprouting amongst last year’s crop of berries. The reason for the late berries could lay in the location of this hedge: a very narrow strip of land between the A63 and a busy local road on an industrial estate. Every time the waxwings descended to feed, roaring trucks on one side and fast delivery vans on the other, I feared for their safety. Photos don’t really convey the feeling of being there, the noise of the road and the wind, the feel of the acrid stench of the traffic fumes at the back of your throat. This stressful food location has probably kept the local thrushes and Woodpigeons away.

On the hawthorn: berries and fresh shoots.

Colour rings
Two of the waxwings had plastic rings with different colour combinations on their legs. The yellow plastic over metal of their right legs indicate that both birds are part of the 2019 ringing scheme by the Grampian Ringing Group. In fact, information supplied by Raymond Duncan from the Grampian ringing group indicates that both birds were ringed on the 7th December 2019, in Aberdeen. One of the birds, a female with white, black and red rings stayed put until the 5th of January at Aberdeen, the other, a male with light green over dark green and dark green ring was found in Thirsk (N Yorkshire) on the 30th December and 3rd of January. Waxwings move towards the UK at the beginning of winter, in large numbers when the berry crop in Scandinavia is poor, what is called irruptions, and then they move south and east through the country. Is it coincidence that both birds are together in Hessle? Although social birds, Waxwings are not known for forming strong individual bonds when they move about during winter. However, there are reports of the same birds returning to favoured spots in different irruption years, so the same individuals may meet again in these Waxwing hotspots.

The Grampian Ringing Group has many years of experience colour ringing waxwings: they have colour-ringed thousands of waxwings for over thirty years. This winter, their dedication has paid off with 100 ringed waxwings and some resightings across the country. Their blog is a treasure trove from everything waxwing including how to sex and age them. Resightings of colour ringed birds, particularly when the colour rings and their position can be ascertained, are crucial to follow the movements of Waxwings without need to recapture them.

The male was ringed in Aberdeen in December.

Female also ringed in Aberdeen in December.

Males, females and ageing
Waxwings of different sexes and ages appear similar at first sight, but they are subtly different. Examination of their plumage pattern can actually be used to age and sex them. Adults have their primaries edged with white and bright yellow, forming a ‘hook’, while young individuals have only one side of the primaries lined with white or pale yellow. When the wing is closed this forms a single line. First winter immatures also have a shorter crest. The ‘bib’ is larger and sharper in males, while the bib edges are diffuse in females. The yellow terminal tail band is wider in males. Males have over 6 waxy red feather tips, and these are longer in adult males, but there is some overlap between sexes. Females have a small number of smaller waxy tips. Some of these features are visible in flight, so you may want to have a go at sexing and aging your waxwings from photos.

The diffuse edge of the bib indicates this is a female.

After watching the Waxwings for a while, I went to their old haunts in Priory Park at Hessle. Trees lining the road between Sainsburys and Aldi supermarkets have been removed, but their favourite berry trees, rowans, are still there, of course, there wasn't a single berry left! 

Watching Waxwings

Yesterday, I got up early and had a short drive to a local supermarket to watch some Waxwings that had been reported. Waxwings are irregular winter visitors to the UK, especially to its eastern side, and are most likely to arrive to a supermarket car park near you. A lovely mild morning with sunny spells and a light wind, I walked around the quite empty car park checking the rowans, a couple of small ones still with berries. two Woodpigeons and a Blackbird were feeding on them, but no trace of Waxwings.

Woodpigeons.

Blackbird sitting on a rowan still laden with berries.

Suddenly, a flock of six Waxwings appeared silhouetted against the rising sun and landed on the tree in front of me.

The safe tree
Almost every time I've seen Waxwings, they alternate between bouts of frantic berry feeding and resting in a tree nearby. It's not just any tree, it is a particular tree. This tree attracts them like a magnet and they appear not to settle anywhere else. This time their safe tree was an ash, the tallest tree in a row on a rise by the road separating two supermarket car parks. The Waxwings spent a few seconds feeding on a yellow-berry rowan, and then they flew back to the top part of the ash tree, where they spend most of the time. Other times the flock would fly towards a rowan and return to the safety of their tree even before landing. They are extremely watchful, looking up nervously every now and then with bouts of preening, resting and calling.

Their quiff-life crests rise or flatten with their mood (compare the top shots taken a few seconds apart), sometimes becoming ruffled with the breeze. They are not particularly wary of people, some photographers assembled just underneath their tree, pointing at them with their cameras, walking right under them, and they paid no attention.

Birders and Waxwings on their safe tree.

Instead, they are watchful of predators. Being small birds, similar to starling in size, they would be easy prey for Sparrowhawks. Indeed, later on, when I go for a wander in the area, I see a Sparrowhawk flying past chased by a flock of starlings.

This is the only shot I got of the Waxwings in the rowan where they fed.

Decision making
When to go to feed? It was interesting to watch the individual Waxwings on the tree. At some point one of them appeared restless, and would fly from branch to branch around the others - which were preening or resting - or it would fly up and away from the tree a short distance, and if the others didn't follow, it would return. This individual appeared to be rallying the group to go and feed.
 Earlier in the week there had been nine Waxwings about, then the six yesterday. Today just two remained. Two Mistle Thrushes sat on a lamppost, guarding the rowans, so not sure the Waxwings will stay much longer. The two waxwings sat close in the tree and billed each other briefly, maybe passing some food?
Early arrival of Waxwings indicate an irruption year, so I do hope there's more opportunities this winter to catch up with them.

Wandering Waxwings

I have litte interest in watching birds swept away from their native grounds by a tropical storm, or inexplicably lost and found far away from their usual migratory routes. Waxwings are different, and I have been wanting to see them for years. They might be rare, or not present in great numbers every year, but the UK is part of their distribution range. The last couple of days, I have been popping in a local supermarket carpark to watch a large flock of these amazing birds. Bohemian Waxwings, Bombycilla garrulus, as other boreal bird species - like Crosbills, Siskins and Redpolls - do not fit into a regular migratory pattern, they are instead irruptive migrants. It is thought that the species common name, Bohemian, comes from these wandering habits. In irruption years, many thousands of individuals flock and wander well south of their summer grounds in the the Russian and northern Scandinavian taiga making it to the UK. Flocks then move nomadically in search of food, as it is not cold winters what prompts their movement, but unpredictable food resources. Irruption years in Waxwings correlate with poor crops on fruit and berries in their northern grounds following a good fruiting year. Waxwings are highly frugivorous birds, their exclusive diet in the winter consists of berries and fruits: Rowan, Hawthorn, Cotoneaster, Mistletoe, Rose Hips and many others both wild and cultivated. The main resource, Rowan berries, fluctuates erratically across years in their summer grounds, as Rowan is a masting species, as fruit production is synchronised in the population and totally fails some years. During these poor fruit years, Waxwings initiate their movements earlier in the year, and therefore earlier arrivals of waxwings indicate that it will be an irruption year.
 During irruptions, waxwings carry on moving through the winter as they deplete their food resources locally, and they are wanderers all year round, with little chance that they will return to the same areas where they were born in the following summer. This winter is going to be one of those irruption years, and the Waxwing invasion is well underway.
 Waxwings are surprisingly small birds, similar in size to Starlings, to which they also resemble in flight, as they flock and have pointy, triangular wings. At close range there is no mistaking them, with their soft plumage, characteristic crest and 'zorro' mask. At even closer range, you might get to see the striking bright scarlet waxy drops and yellow streaks adorning their wings. They do look smart.
 As most fruit eaters, Waxwings need to eat a large number of berries to survive - an estimation was double their body weight in berries. A flock can quickly strip down a tree. When not feeding, they like to sit atop trees, preening and just looking around, while constantly chattering, a pleasing cricket-like and jingly call.

A large flock of Waxwings resting and preening.

The top of this Rowan has already been stripped, but there are still plenty of berries at the bottom of the tree, which are harder to reach 

A circling flock of Waxwings deciding where to stop

 These three were looking up nervously, might well have been keeping an eye on the Sparrowhawk soaring above them.

The flock I was watching was resting on a Rowan tree and the birds were not quite daring to do to the bottom of the tree to start eating. They increased the rhythm of they calls like they were agreeing on something, and took to the wing. I am so pleased I finally managed to catch up with them. Bon voyage!

More information

Barbara and David Snow (1988) Birds and Berries. T & AD Poyser. 268 pp.

Ian Newton (2006) Advances in the study of irruptive migration. Ardea 94, 433-460.

Koenig, W., & Knops, J. (2001). Seed-crop size and eruptions of North American boreal seed-eating birds Journal of Animal Ecology, 70 (4), 609-620 DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2656.2001.00516.x