This month we’ve seen several flocks of cedar waxwings flying overhead at the Headwater Preserve. Cedar waxwings are very social and in winter they travel in flocks.

In the East, forest regeneration and the planting of fruit-bearing ornamentals  has led to large increases in Cedar Waxwing populations. From 1965 to 1979, the population doubled.

The changing diet of Cedar Waxwings brought about an interesting effect: the appearance of orange, rather than yellow bands on the tail, a characteristic not noted before 1950. This color change is attributed to pigments contained in the fruit of the alien honeysuckle Lonicera morrowii, a recent addition to the Cedar Waxwing diet.