By the Tips of Their Tails!

  Recently I have been bemoaning the fact that the Cedar Waxwings have not made their yearly appearance on the Bayou.  I worried about them.  Usually, by this time of year, the birds have come and devoured every berry in sight and have filled the treetops with their whistling calls.  I have missed them.  But, then again, perhaps I am pushing the seasons once again and perhaps the birds are on time....I am not.  But I do not think so.  If I remember rightly, January is the month for these birds to grace the Bayou with their presence.  It is now late February and they are finally here.  This morning as I waited on Mark to join me for our morning hike, I heard the familiar calls high in the oak tree near the pier. Hundreds of the birds were filling every branch of the tall tree.  I had to sit right down and listen to them for a while.  It made me smile.  Having old friends return is good for the soul.

  Here's one for you!  A bit of bird trivia to lighten and brighten your day can be found right here! The Cedar Waxwings that were visiting today had yellow tips on their tails.  While there is nothing unusual about the yellow tips (Cedar Waxwings have yellow tipped tails), some birds have been seen with darker orange tips.  It seems that the change coloring is somewhat recent (in the study of ornithology anyway) appearing during the 1960s.  Scientists have discovered that the orange tips are a result of the birds eating red berries of a certain honeysuckle that was introduced to the United States during that time.  If a bird eats the berries while growing tail feathers, the feathers are tipped in orange.  Eating red berries changed their tail colors!  Imagine that!  I wonder if I ate those berries, it would cover some of the gray in my hair??  Maybe??

  Another bit of trivia....since the Cedar Waxwings are fruit eaters, they sometimes get into a batch of overripe berries.  This is not good. Overripe berries have a tendency to be fermenting thus creating alcohol. Let a flock of Cedar Waxwings devour a bunch of alcohol laden berries and you have drunk birds.  While that may not seem too very drastic, it can be. Some birds die from ingesting the rotten, fermenting berries.  

  The thought of intoxicated birds brings back a memory from my childhood on the farm.  Back behind Pop's big shed there was a huge mulberry tree.  My brother and I used to climb the tree to pick the berries for Mom.  One day while sitting in the tree, we noticed that the chickens below us were acting a mite strange.  They were wobbling and falling and clucking their fool heads off like a bunch of crazy birds.  Pop explained to us that the chickens were all drunk from eating the rotten mulberries that had fallen to the ground and we were warned never to eat any that "tasted strange" or we might act just like those drunk chickens.  That terrified me!  I did not want to go around falling and clucking.  Nope...no rotten mulberries for me!

  Back to the Cedar Waxwings....I am sure glad that they made an appearance on the Bayou.  It is only a matter of time before they will strip every berry dangling on any vine and then be off on their journey homeward to nest.  Thanks for stopping by, Birds! Safe travels!