Exploring Nature: Bird Collisions

I was deep into reading a Louis L'Amour Western, comfortable in my cushiony chair, when I heard a loud “thunk” outside the sliding glass door behind me.

I knew at once what had happened. A bird had struck the clear glass, thinking it was a straight path through. It had happened before, and I walked out on my back deck to access the avian damage.

I found a dapper little bird about seven inches long, with a black face mask and a slender head crest. It was brown above and a light yellowish buff below and had a bright yellow band on the tip of its tail.

A cedar waxwing, so named for the unusual red tips of the inner secondary wing feathers, that have the look of melted sealing wax. A lovely bird, usually found in large flocks, but now this single male bird was stretched out unconscious on my back deck.

I went inside to get something to wrap around the bird so I could gently pick it up, and in the few seconds I was gone, he regained his wits and flew away. I hope he suffered no long-term ill effects.

I know I need to be more careful in keeping my blinds adjusted so birds don’t fly into the glass. But I was at least pleased that I had such a good chance to see that handsome bird up close. It remains in Texas until the spring, then heads north to its breeding grounds in Canada and the far northern states.

I hope you get a chance to see a cedar waxwing this winter. But I hope it is not because it has smacked into a window. Keep your blinds pulled, place decals on clear windows, and try to avoid such unfortunate collisions.