Cedar Waxwing

(Cedar Waxwing)

Mostly on fall or spring mornings, wandering along the roads and trails at the Running Y in Oregon, I almost subliminally become aware of very thin, high pitched trills—so high they’re easy to miss. Instantly, I know two things: One, there’s a bush or tree loaded with berries of one kind or another nearby. Two, in that tree is a flock of Cedar Waxwings feasting away. So pervasive is their chatter that a flock of Cedar Waxwings is known as an “earful.”

Shakespeare’s Juliet asked, “What’s in a name?” She apparently attributed little to mere names, but in the Waxwing’s instance, there’s more to learn. Why Waxwing?

Notice the startling red tips on the secondaries. They’re made from waxy secretions and it’s thought that they provide protection to the wing feathers as the bird flutters against leaves and branches as they excitedly anticipate their next juicy bite.

As I painted this bird, I left the red tips to the very last, delaying the gratification of matching that amazing color and then applying it over the dark black barbules at the end of the secondaries. The color reminds me of the wax used to seal notes and letters in more romantic eras. Did that same thought tickle the imagination of whoever first decided on the name Waxwing?