Cedar Waxwings Galore

I've been noticing the Cedar Waxwings on occasion during my PFW count days, but I came home for lunch this afternoon and was simply overwhelmed by the number of Waxwings outside my apartment! They were in the trees, perched on roofs, foraging berries in the many shrubs, and calling their very high pitched "bzeee" notes. It's one thing to hear a dozen Waxwings calling, but at times there must have been about 200 of these beauties in sight. It was an amazing experience.

The Cedar Waxwing gets its name from the "red, waxlike tips on the secondary flight-feathers of adult birds." But as I looked at all the photos I took, a few shown below, none of the Waxwings had the red tips, meaning none were adults. I wonder if only the juvies were bold enough to come within range of my camera? It's hard to believe that in the entire flock there were no adults. The last picture below shows a Waxwing I photographed a couple of years ago. Notice the red wing tips indicating that it is an adult.

Here's the picture of an adult Cedar Waxwing

(notice the red wing tips)
taken in April of 2007 at "the house."