Decorating Christmas Trees, Avian-style: Cedar Waxwings on the Tuolumne River

It's getting to be the holiday season, and folks are thinking of trimming and decorating Christmas trees. The avian folks along the Tuolumne Parkway Trail had their own idea of how a tree should be decorated, using around 145 of themselves as ornaments. These beautiful birds are Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum), who tend to show up around here in the fall and winter as they migrate south.

I couldn't get near enough for a close-up, so here's a shot from last January at MJC...