Maggie's Farm

A reader sent a nice photo of a Cedar Waxwing in an apple tree in Lenox, Massachusetts, taken this past weekend. These birds can be seen in every state in the US either as breeders, migrants, or over-wintering.

These are usually flocking birds, and fruit is their favorite food. They have been known to get drunk or die from eating rotten, fermented fruit. They will roam the countryside all winter, stripping trees and vines of their remaining fruits and berries. That's why you will never see them at a bird-feeder.

You can read about this elegant songbird here. Interesting detail: the orange at the tip of the tail indicates that this bird ate plenty of Japanese Honeysuckle berries (an invasive alien species) when those feathers  were growing.