Granddad’s Camera
Waxwing, as it appears in the game

No.101 · Birds · Rare visitor

Waxwing

Bombycilla garrulus

A pinky-buff, crested bird from Scandinavia that turns up in supermarket car parks in the winters when the berries run short at home. It gorges on rowan and cotoneaster berries until the tree is bare, then vanishes.

When to look

November to March, mostly at dawn and day.

Time of day

Best time
Late October to March, but only in an 'irruption' winter. Look for red-berried trees in towns, on bright mornings.
Where in the game
Millbrook (urban, garden and park)
Size
19–23 cm long, wingspan 32–35.5 cm
Wingspan
32–35.5 cm
Weight
About 55 g; adults 51–66 g (BTO)
Lifespan
The oldest recorded in Europe was more than 13 years 6 months
Population
About 10,000 in Britain in winter (BTO, 2012–17), but from a few hundred to many thousands in different winters
Status
Green-listed (Birds of Conservation Concern)

Diet

Berries, above all rowan; in Britain also hawthorn, cotoneaster and other ornamental berries. In the breeding season it also takes midges and mosquitoes

Habitat

Breeds in northern conifer forest. In Britain it visits gardens, car parks, industrial estates and streets with berry trees, mainly in the east

Breeding

Does not breed in Britain. Clutch of about 5 eggs, incubated for 13–14 days in Scandinavia and Russia

Field signs

  • A high, trilling, bell-like 'sirrr' from a flock in the treetops
  • Starling-sized birds sitting bolt upright on the top twigs, then dropping together onto a berry tree
  • Berry skins and pulp splattered on cars parked under a favourite tree

Did you know?

  • The red tips on the wing feathers look like sealing wax, which is where the name comes from.
  • A waxwing can eat several hundred berries in a day, more than double its own weight.
  • Waxwings can process the alcohol in fermenting berries better than people can, but they can still become drunk.

Moments worth waiting for

  • Berry gorge November to February, day and dawn
    The whole flock drops onto the rowan at once, gulping berries whole, then rises again in a rattle of wings.

Photo tip

Once a flock is found it will return to the same tree every few minutes. Stand back, let them settle, and wait for the moment they drop to the berries. A 300–400 mm lens and low winter sun behind you make the crest and wax tips glow. Shoot from the public pavement, not from private land.

Be a good naturalist

Stay off private car parks and out of gardens without permission. Do not shake or lure them off a tree, and do not flush a flock repeatedly to get flight shots: they need every berry to fuel the trip home.

The law

All wild birds are protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Not on Schedule 1

Checked against