Neither have I (although they do have a crest) but yesterday I found a waxwing that sure looked like it had a topknot of some kind.
Note: Obviously this is not a waxwing. That bird comes later.
When I think of a bird with a topknot or head plume it’s usually the California Quail that comes to mind. Their plume hangs forward in front of their face and I always wonder why the males especially don’t go bonkers having to look past it constantly. I know I would. I guess they have no choice but to take it in stride.
Yesterday morning when I saw this Cedar Waxwing land on a faraway perch I immediately wondered what was sticking up from “his” head that looked like a white plume. A plume plus a crest,, now that would really be something!
As soon as I located him through my lens I realized it was an errant feather and I thought it made him look pretty silly. It reminded me a little of one of those historic Greek (or German or even English) plumed military helmets.
He took it with him when he flew to another perch.
And when he arrived he was still sporting that dandy-looking headgear.
Obviously these photos aren’t works of art. But sometimes when I’m in the field and all tensed up after hours of trying to be quick enough to get little flitty birds in my viewfinder a humorous character like this guy can be a very welcome distraction.
And this goofy-looking waxwing provided exactly that – a welcome distraction.
Ron
PS – I keep thinking about how irritating that feather must be. He must be able to feel it and know that something’s wrong up there but how would he ever reach it while grooming? I suppose he could do it with his feet – perhaps scratching at it is what made it stick up straight in the first place…
A Praetorian no doubt.
He’s part of a Monty Python routine. Lol
🙂
The feather almost looks like a bird. It has a eye, a leg, and feathers. Maybe a Angel watching out for the bird. Beautiful photos!
Thank you, Jean. Eventually I could “see” the bird but I had to work at it…
I saw it right away, Jean, but EC the flapping bird in the first photo takes a bit more imagination for me.
Hey Ron, you had me going for a few minutes when I looked at the pictures. Yes, we all need a laugh every now and then. Good pictures.
Thanks, Trudy.
Wonderful series Ron! It does look at little silly> :>))
Charlotte
I think so too, Charlotte. Thanks.
In the first shot of that errant feather I saw a smaller bird perched on the waxwings head, flapping its wings and about to take off. And yes, I see and interpret shapes in clouds too.
Wow, that’s an option I never even thought about, EC!
But can you see it now?
I’m afraid it’s a huge stretch of my imagination. Actually, it looks more like a fairy shrimp to me…
It’s a teeny,tiny, white bird…definitely!!! Never saw such a tiny bird before!!!
Thanks Patty. And its wings are fluttering madly.
I see it — thanks, EC!
I just showed the photo to my partner (who is NOT imaginative) and asked what he saw. Instantly he saw a little bird, complete with beak and wings
Thanks for these photos. I have been keeping a record of the Gambel’s Quail in my backyard for 20 years and the largest family I’ve seen so far is 19! It makes sense that females dump eggs, though here we have more males than females. A note about the topknot. The position of the topknot changes during the year and seems to be most like the one in your photo during mating season. Guess it is sexier to the females!
“Guess it is sexier to the females”
Whatever works, Pat!
We don’t have Gambel’s up here in the northern part of the state but we do in southern Utah.
VBG! You do realize you might be taking a risk here, even as funny as this is (to me). Some neophyte birder who just came across your blog just might be a tad confused, especially if they did not read the whole blog. But, hey life is full of risks and one must take a few as we progress up the ladder or down, whatever your perception.
Great shots Ron, enjoyed your post! Thanks for sharing.
If they don’t read the entire blog they take their chances, Dick… 🙂
How DARE they not read the whole post! 😉
I love that the first picture we saw about the plume was a California Quail – it made me laugh, as did the plume on the Cedar Waxwing. We have Gambel’s Quail here, that have the same topknot as the CA Quail. But now I’m going to have to start checking out all the Scaled Quail to see if they have topknots that match your Waxwing… 😀 The plume on the Quail would also drive me crazy, which is why I wear my hair so short. I’ve never understood people who don’t mind having hair that blocks their vision.
Susan, I haven’t had hair hanging down over my eyes for about 30 years. One of the advantages of being largely bald… 🙂
Our parrots get feathers stuck like this all the time. It’s just a molted feather and it will fall off eventually or the bird will preen it off.
All birds have similar things happen, Cathy. I just thought it was a little unusual because it’s on the top of the head and it’s sticking straight up.
Ron – ours are Gambel’s Quail – same as California ??? Not sure. Yes, very possible that more than one female laid eggs in that planter. Our local bird expert said it is not unusual for the female to disappear right in the middle of the process. Could have been caught by a hawk, hit by a car, or just ran off with another male. During the mating and breeding season they are racing back and forth across the roads and have to get run over from time to time.
Everett
Though they look fairly similar they’re different species – California have a scaled belly that is missing in Gambel’s. We have both species in Utah.
Here’s what BNA says about clutch size in Gambel’s: “Usually 10–12 eggs, although nests in dry years may contain 15 are usually the result of >1 female; such “dump nests” are not uncommon.”
Maybe he’s trying out for marching band — they have funny plumes on their hats too. 😉
You’re right, they do…
Looks like a little piece of feather fuzz got attached somehow, but remarkable that it stayed there while he flew from place to place. Very nice picture of the quail. One year we had a quail lay 22 eggs in a whiskey barrel planter we had on the front patio. The mother disappeared about two weeks before they were due to hatch, but the father came and sat on the eggs every day until they hatched. It was a riot to watch as 21 of them jumped down from the planter one morning as the father stood below encouraging them. Then after about 20 minutes or so he led them all out through the front gate and on to wherever their final destination was.
Everett Sanborn, Prescott AZ
That must have been a hoot-and-a-half! I’m chuckling just thinking about it. 🙂
Everett, I’ve had California Quail nesting in my back yard several times but I’ve never seen that many chicks from the same brood.
BNA says this about clutch size for this species: “Clutch size in British Columbia ranged from 1 to 26 eggs. Large clutches may result from multiple females “dumping” eggs.”
Yes, the 1st photo of the quail WAS confusing! 😉 Looks like an upside down feather that’s stuck in the regular ones to me…….;)
Beautiful bird misplaced feather/topknot and all! 🙂
Thank you, Judy.
It’s like that itch you just can’t reach! After a while you just live with it. I must admit you had me startled when I looked at the first photo…’What is he talking about…that is not a Cedar Wax Wing!’ 😕 Then I read on… 😊 That Quail is stunning! My favorite colors, black, white, gray, brown, all rolled up in one little bird…a masterpiece. Those feathers on the nape of the neck…stunning. I must look for more pictures of this one! So glad you added it to this post!
I wondered if that would temporarily confuse anyone, Kathy. Yes, aren’t those scale patterns on the back of the neck of the quail attractive!