Serviceberry Attracts Cedar Waxwings to Nest in Garden

Attracted by the fruit of the Serviceberry tree, Cedar Waxwings made their first appearance in our garden June 20 and are here daily. These dazzling frugivores are nomadic, flocking in search of abundant fruit. They are one of North America’s most beautiful songbirds, sporting velvety, shiny, brown, gray and lemon-yellow plumage accented by brilliant red, waxy tips on their wing feathers. Males generally have more red wing-tips than females. It’s hard to tell in the photo above, but the waxwing on the left is likely the male.

Cedar Waxwings are one of the few North American songbirds whose population has increased during the last 20 years. One of the reasons for this is the planting of fruiting trees and shrubs in gardens. What a treat to get a close look at them, especially in our new trees! If you grow it, they will come…

Not only are the waxwings eating berries in our garden, they are gathering nesting material, pulling off fine dried vegetation from a nearby plant.

After gathering the material, they fly into the trees, where we can hear their buzzy calls. We’ve seen a flock of six foraging together, and it is possible that these social birds are building a number of nests in the nearby the Red Maples or pines. Many songbirds have already had one brood by now, but Cedar Waxwings time their nesting to ripening fruit for fledging chicks.

Last February we had the closely related Bohemian Waxwings stop by briefly to clean up the few remaining berries on the same Serviceberry. Bohemian Waxwings are a more northerly species and are found in New Hampshire in the winter.