On the left you will see a drawing I made of an unidentified bird which I saw sitting on my backyard fence in South Eastern Minnesota about 7 am on 9/8/98. Research leads me to believe that this bird is a Bohemian Waxwing as seen in the photo on the right. While my drawing is not identical to the photograph there are very close similiarities and I find no other bird that so closely matches the one I saw.

My bird was about the size of a blackbird only a little plumper. The bird was a dark tan color with a soft greyish tinge. There appeared to be a rust colored crest on the back of it's head and lighter orange feathers near the wing tip. There also appeared to be black and white patches on the tail with the black being nearer to the body. The beak was short and blunt.

"Peterson Field Guides Eastern Birds" by Roger Tory Peterson, describes WaxWings as follows:

Cedar Waxwing: Bombycilla cedrurum 7" (18 cm) Note the yellow band at the tail tip. A sleek, crested, brown bird, larger than a House Sparrow. Adults have waxy red tips on secondaries. Juvenal is grayer, softly streaked below.

Range: Se. Alaska, Canada, to s.-cen. U.S. Winters s. Canada to Panama. Habitat: Open woodlands, fruiting trees, orchards: in winter, widespread, irregular.

Bohemian Waxwing: Bombycilla garrulus 8" (20 cm) Similar to Cedar Waxwing: larger, grayer (no yellow on belly): wings with strong white or white and yellow markings. Note the deep rusty undertail coverts (white in Cedar Waxwing).

Range: N. Eurasia, nw. N.America. Winters to s. Eurasia, ne. and sw. U.S. Habitat: Boreal forests, muskeg; in winter widespread in search of berries.

South East Minnesota is somewhat out of the normal range of the Bohemian Waxwing, but still within the possible migratory range shown in the Peterson Field Guide. According to the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union Records Committee both varieties of Waxwings are considered to be regular species in Minneosta and the Cedar Waxwings are a species which has nested in Minnesota.

I feel that the bird I sighted much more closely fits the description of the Bohemian Waxwing rather then the Cedar Waxwing. It's my feeling this bird was a 'passer by' and I probably will not spot him again.


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