The Shadow of the Waxwing Slain

Cedar Waxwings in flurries, not flocks, fly back and forth between the Cherry and the Holly trees.  The Cherry is stripped of all its fall berries, but the Holly still has an abundant supply.  They take turns burying themselves in the deep green branches before returning to the Cherry Tree with a round holly berry held brightly in their beaks.  Sometimes- they pass the berry back and forth and sometimes they toss their heads back and swallow the berry whole. Each Cedar Waxwing has brilliant red markings at the edge of their wings and their tail feathers are tipped in bright yellow. Dark dramatic masks and yellow stomachs that fade upwards into rose-colored breasts are also part of their distinctive markings. They trill quietly to each other in constant conversation and shift and dart in twos or threes in orchestrated flight before taking off all together.