A bird of many colors

The cedar waxwing is similar in shape and size to a cardinal, with black legs, black around the eyes and a tufted crest on its head. But the cardinal is no match for the variety of colors painted onto the cedar waxwing, whose bright yellow tail tips are its crowning feature.

Most cedar waxwings spend the summer in Canada and northern parts of the United States where they breed and nest. Still, as my photo attests, this bird may remain much farther south.

Southeast Missouri's native wild mulberry trees are currently producing ripe fruit and a multitude of wild birds will eat them. The tree at which I sat hosted robins, starlings, brown thrashers, blue jays, indigo buntings, yellow canaries, cardinals, woodpeckers and squirrels. I had spent about five hours observing the commotion around the tree when two cedar waxwings flew in and surprised me.

Although the cedar waxwing will eat insects, it prefers fruit. Cedar waxwings and robins gulp mulberries whole.

When a brown-headed cowbird lays an egg in a cedar waxwing's nest, the baby cowbird may hatch but will probably not survive. If berries are plentiful, the young cowbird will get a steady diet of berries that are toxic to it.

Barely noticeable in this photo is the red waxy tip of a wing feather. This is where the waxwing part of the bird's name comes from.

@body_no_indent italics:Through the Woods is a weekly nature photo column by Aaron Horrell. Find this column at semissourian.com to order a reprint of the photo.