A waxwing winter

It has been something of a waxwing winter, with good numbers of these stunning birds arriving from the boreal forests of Scandinavia and western Russia. That they arrive here at all is very much down to their irruptive habits, with birds moving en-masse under particular conditions. In some years, very few waxwings are to be found in Britain during the winter but in others many thousands of birds may arrive. The size, timing and location of these arrivals are determined by the success or otherwise of the breeding season and the availability of rowan berries during the autumn months that follow. Rowan is the favoured food, so in years when the crop has been poor the birds are forced to move on elsewhere and it is these movements that bring them to our shores.

The autumn saw a good arrival in Scotland and northern England, with birds filtering south as the berry crops there were depleted. However, even here in Britain many berry crops have been poor this autumn so the waxwings have tended to be rather mobile. While this means that they have been turning up in lots of different places, it also means that they have not tended to stay in one place for long, much to the frustration of those birdwatchers and photographers hoping to catch up with them – there is little that makes a more festive photograph than a waxwing on a berry bush! One of the quirks of the winter distribution of waxwings is the association with industrial estates, new housing developments and supermarket car parks, all of which are places where berry-producing shrubs are used as amenity planting.

Another interesting aspect of waxwing behaviour is its alcohol tolerance. Berries are rich in sugars and fats and are a valuable food source during the autumn and winter months. Over time, however, the sugars in the berries begin to ferment and alcohol levels increase. For any bird that eats a lot of berries there is the potential for drunkenness and the resulting impairment of normal activities, like flight or vigilance for predators. Those species that specialise on feeding on berries, like the waxwing, are better able to metabolise alcohol. In fact the alcohol tolerance of the waxwing is reputed to be equivalent to an average-sized man drinking more than two and a half pints of 5% beer every hour from dawn until dusk! By comparison, the equivalent figure for the greenfinch, which feeds on berry seeds rather than the pulp, would be just half a pint each hour. If you have a berry-producing bush or shrub in your garden with berries still present then you might just get a visit from these Nordic nomads.

Waxwings arrive in town

The first of the winter’s Waxwings have reached Thetford, with two reported from the very edge of town just the other day. Given that a good number of these birds have been in the country for much of the winter, they seem to have been a little tardy in getting to me. Perhaps I have been expecting too much, particularly as a closer examination of the reports shows that there are, in reality, fewer here this winter than when we last had a decent invasion (and when I had a flock of 30 birds at the end of the street). While I have not managed to catch up with this particular pair of winter visitors, I did manage to catch up with the flock that was hanging around Thorpe St. Andrew at the turn of the year; so perhaps I should be content with that.

Waxwings are fantastic little birds. About the size (and shape) of a Starling, with peachy brown plumage, a little crest and a black bandit mask and chin. The name Waxwing comes from one other useful identification feature, namely the waxy-red appendages to some of the wing feathers. These occasional winter visitors originate from the belt of boreal forest, which stretches across Scandinavia and Russia. Following a bumper breeding season, the bird’s population swelled by a good berry crop the previous winter, Waxwings are often faced by a much smaller crop of their favoured berries come autumn and so are forced to move further afield in search of food. The large-scale movements which can result from such conditions, bring the Waxwings to western Europe in much greater numbers than is usual.

Flocks and individual birds start to arrive in eastern Scotland and the Northern Isles during the autumn. Should they arrive particularly early, then this usually means that we will receive a bigger influx later into the winter. As the winter progresses, so the birds begin to move further south and west, moving on to find new sources of berries as supplies are exhausted locally. Interestingly, the sorts of berries taken (including Rowan and Cotoneaster) often come from plants that are favoured by architects and town planners for urban sites. Among these are the amenity plantings used on new housing estates, industrial parks and around supermarket car parks. As such, it is not unusual to see groups of birdwatchers wandering around such sites looking for these birds. So, if you have a Cotoneaster in your garden or a Rowan still heavy with berries, then there is a chance this winter that you might be visited by one or more Waxwings. It seems that it is not just our nature reserves that can attract rare visitors.