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<\/p>\nRecently I’ve been posting a few photos documenting bird behaviors I don’t understand. Earlier this week it happened again, this time with Cedar Waxwings.<\/p>\n
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Three days ago I spotted this pair of Cedar Waxwings on the other side of a mountain stream and too far from me for for frame-filling photos. In situations like this I often watch the birds through my lens for interesting behaviors and take a few documentary photos. These are photos of that type.<\/p>\n
In Cedar Waxwings sexes are so much alike most birders don’t even attempt to sex them in the field. But the knowledgeable observer can sometimes tell male from female because males have a more extensive and darker, black chin-patch and during the breeding season females are slightly heavier than males.<\/p>\n
Based on behavior I believe these two waxwings are a mated pair and based on the criteria just mentioned I also believe the male is the bird at top and slightly behind the female below him. I have no idea why the presumed male was looking straight up but he seemed fascinated by something up there. I didn’t have enough depth of field to get both birds sharp so the female is soft.<\/p>\n
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This photo and the two below are sequential with no skips. I’m only including this one to show what the waxwings were doing just prior to a very interesting behavior.<\/p>\n
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Without any clue to suggest what was about to happen the female took off toward her mate and enveloped him with her wings while she was in flight. Based on his posture he didn’t react in the slightest. He didn’t seem surprised or threatened – it was almost like it was normal, expected behavior.<\/p>\n
She didn’t hover there. She was only there for a single wingbeat and then…<\/p>\n
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she was gone. The male remained in his previous posture.<\/p>\n
Lets take a closer, much closer, look at what was going on for that millisecond while she was enveloping him with her wings.<\/p>\n
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He appeared to remain aloof and even uninterested in what she was doing but I suspect that’s making unwarranted assumptions.<\/p>\n
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An even larger crop of the same image allows us to more clearly see that she briefly wrapped one of her toes around his upper foot and touched his rump and\/or wingtip with her other foot. That appeared to be the only physical contact they made before she veered off to the right.<\/p>\n
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To say that I’m fascinated by little snippets of mysterious behavior like this is an understatement. That toe-wrapping and physical contact had to mean something<\/em> but what could it be?<\/p>\n Was it one of the many behaviors that cement the bond between mated birds? Was it a friendly gesture of endearment or devotion, something like one human patting the butt of their significant other as they walk by? Or was it something else? Maybe I’m wrong and these birds weren’t a mated pair. In that case it could have been something like intimidation or even a failed attempt at displacement.<\/p>\n Even when I don’t understand them I love witnessing behaviors like this and it’s a huge bonus when I’m able to document them with photos. Then down the road I can ponder the meaning of it all.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Recently I’ve been posting a few photos documenting bird behaviors I don’t understand. Earlier this week it happened again, this time with Cedar Waxwings.<\/p>\n