As I pulled in the driveway one day last week, I saw a flock of unfamiliar birds splashing in and drinking water from our goldfish pond. There were 16 or 18 cardinal-sized birds, and I noticed flashes of yellow. Then I knew. It was a flock of Cedar Waxwings.
I see these lovely birds once or twice a year as they pass through. Unfortunately, I don’t have any plants or trees in my yard from which they could feed. But they stop by regardless, usually resting in the treetops between journeys, but this time they zoomed in for water.
I have always said that you can draw more birds to your yard with water than with food. Provide both and who knows what will show up and in what condition.
One of the interesting things about Cedar Waxwings is that sometimes they show up drunk and they look it. They wobble on limbs, they fly into things, they do everything except hiccup. That’s because they feed almost exclusively on fruits and berries which sometimes ferment and become “bird wine.”
Fruit can become alcoholic in several ways. Sometimes in the fall, fruit matures too much and ferments. In the winter, cold concentrates a fruit’s sugar, which then breaks down and produces alcohol.
Following lunch at a favorite berry bush, members of a cedar waxwing sometimes become truly intoxicated. If you find birds in this condition, they usually won’t go for a cup of hot coffee, but if you provide them fresh water, like a goldfish pond, they eventually sober up and fly away.
