In the midst of a lowland forest at the edge of town, out for a slow walk with a pal, we heard the calls of Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) and started looking for them. We saw them first in an Eastern White Cedar (Thuja occidentalis) tree, as they were quickly making their way towards the South. Then when we turned a corner we got to witness some courting behaviours which somehow reached deep and woke me from a slow low mood I was in.

Sometimes Cedar Waxwings are regarded as a “just a..” bird. “It’s just a Cedar Waxwing”, you might hear from another birder who is looking for some elusive flycatcher or late migrant. But if we take the time to pay attention to the mundane, we sometimes see some magic in elusive or even commonplace behaviours.

Finding the magic in the everyday is one of the beautiful parts of paying attention to our wild neighbours. The small moves sometimes mean the most. These small moves are what inspired this week’s show.

Image of Waxwings : Alan Rice, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

To learn more :

Birds of Ontario by Andy Bezener. Lone Pine, 2000.
Bird Song : Identification Made Easy by Ernie Jardine. Natural Heritage, 1996.
Stokes Guide to Bird Behavior Vol. 2 by Donald and Lillian Stokes. Little Brown and Company, 1983.
Peterson Field Guide to North American Bird Nests by Casey McFarland, Matthew Monjello and David Moskowitz. Houghton Mifflin Harcout, 2021.
American Wildlife & Plants : A Guide to Wildlife Food Habits by Alexander C Martin, Herbert S Zim, Arnold L. Nelson. Dover, 1951.
Life Histories of North American Wagtails, Shrikes, Vireos, and Their Allies by Arthur Cleveland Bent. Dover, 1965.
Birds of Forest, Yard & Thicket by John Eastman. Stackpole Books, 1997.