{"id":58483,"date":"2019-06-10T05:13:06","date_gmt":"2019-06-10T11:13:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=58483"},"modified":"2025-05-10T18:54:34","modified_gmt":"2025-05-10T23:54:34","slug":"cedar-waxwings-eating-the-petals-of-blooming-hawthorns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/06\/10\/cedar-waxwings-eating-the-petals-of-blooming-hawthorns\/","title":{"rendered":"Cedar Waxwings Eating The Petals Of Blooming Hawthorns"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Cedar<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Adult<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Cedar<\/a><\/div><\/div>
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\"Staring<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Cedar<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Close<\/a><\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
\"Cedar<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Perky<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Cedar<\/a><\/div><\/div>
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After looking for and photographing some birds yesterday morning in the Wasatch Mountains I decided to stop my Jeep near a creek in East Canyon to eat an apple I had brought for my breakfast. I’d been so focused on the birds that I had forgotten to eat earlier. I pulled in then parked where I could hear the water and see a part of the creek. There was a stand of hawthorns next to the creek that blocked most of my view of it but I thought that was fine. I just wanted to eat my apple and take a few images of the hawthorns in bloom. I scoped the hawthorn blooms through my lens and was a bit disgruntled because the individual flowers looked to be in pretty bad shape and cursed myself because I thought I’d waited too long to get nice images of the hawthorn blooms.<\/p>\n

Now anyone who knows me; or even slightly knows me, is aware that I am always looking for birds even when that isn’t my intention. You could blindfold me and I’d still listen for birds. So as I took a few bites from the first of the apple slices I brought along I heard a sound that I love to hear, the sound of the calls of Cedar Waxwings<\/span><\/a>. I looked around, saw several Cedar Waxwings in the hawthorns next to my Jeep, closed the container that held my apple, and started photographing the birds. I had to take my teleconverter off to even focus on them they were so close.<\/p>\n

As I watched and photographed the Cedar Waxwings I realized “why” the hawthorn blossoms had appeared to look a bit damaged… the waxwings had been feasting on them! I took frame after frame of the Cedar Waxwings snatching petals from the hawthorn flowers and consuming them. At one point I was taking photos of a single bird out in the open who wasn’t eating while a bird above it was busy grabbing hawthorns petals where in a few of the frames I caught petals floating past my primary subject.<\/p>\n

So why were the Cedar Waxwings eating the hawthorn flower petals? Because they are nutritious! At this time of the year when there are very few fruits or berries left on the trees the waxwings still need to eat and apparently flower blossoms and insects are in their diet at this time of the year.<\/p>\n

I believe these hawthorns are River Hawthorns (Crataegus rivularis)<\/em> because the Utah Wildflowers app<\/span><\/a> I used only shows that hawthorn species in the area, habitat and at the elevation where I photographed the waxwings. I really can’t say for certain.<\/p>\n

I took loads of photos of the Cedar Waxwings eating hawthorn petals, preening, perching out in the open and flitting around until I felt like I was beginning to get a headache and only then realized that I hadn’t even finished the first slice of my apple and it was getting late in the morning so I finally put the camera down, ate my apple and simply watched the waxwings in the hawthorns.<\/p>\n

Click the first image in the gallery above to start a slideshow of the photos. My camera settings for these images ranged between f7.1 to f9, ISO 500, shutter speeds varied between 1\/60 to 1\/1600, some were taken without the TC and some were taken with it when the waxwings moved further away from me and my Jeep.<\/p>\n

This morning I added flower petals to my facts in information about Cedar Waxwings after having seen the proof with my own eyes.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Cedar Waxwing photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I watched and photographed the Cedar Waxwings I realized “why” the hawthorn blossoms had appeared to look a bit damaged… the waxwings had been feasting on them!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,4597,5921,4594,26,773],"tags":[4004,6627,4599,4598,4142,7298,4286,2217,6566,3819,7299,7297,4541,5875,5916,4600],"class_list":["post-58483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-avian","category-cedar-waxwings","category-east-canyon","category-morgan-county","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","tag-adult","tag-bloom","tag-bombycilla-cedrorum","tag-cedar-waxwing","tag-close-up","tag-crataegus-rivularis","tag-eating","tag-flowers","tag-hawthorn","tag-perky","tag-petal","tag-river-hawthorn","tag-scratching","tag-staring","tag-waxwing","tag-waxwings"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-fdh","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":115560,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/09\/01\/cedar-waxwing-perched-among-hawthorn-berries\/","url_meta":{"origin":58483,"position":0},"title":"Cedar Waxwing Perched Among Hawthorn Berries","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 1, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The last time I was in the Wasatch Mountains, I heard the calls of waxwings. I didn't get many photos, but I thought I would share this Cedar Waxwing from one year ago today.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Cedar Waxwing perched among hawthorn berries, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/cedar-waxwing-perched-hawthorn-mountais-mia-mcpherson-0930.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/cedar-waxwing-perched-hawthorn-mountais-mia-mcpherson-0930.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/cedar-waxwing-perched-hawthorn-mountais-mia-mcpherson-0930.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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morning I am sharing three late summer Cedar Waxwing images I took in late August in a canyon high in the Wasatch Mountains.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Cedar Waxwing stink eye, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/cedar-waxwing-adult-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-9888.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/cedar-waxwing-adult-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-9888.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/cedar-waxwing-adult-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-9888.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/cedar-waxwing-close-up-hawthorn-mia-mcpherson-1085.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/cedar-waxwing-close-up-hawthorn-mia-mcpherson-1085.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/cedar-waxwing-close-up-hawthorn-mia-mcpherson-1085.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/cedar-waxwing-close-up-hawthorn-mia-mcpherson-1085.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":52585,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/06\/14\/nesting-cedar-waxwings-photographing-them-is-a-challenge\/","url_meta":{"origin":58483,"position":4},"title":"Nesting Cedar Waxwings – Photographing Them Is A Challenge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 14, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been photographing nesting Cedar Waxwings and I have to say that it tests my skills and is a true challenge because of the light, how quickly these birds move and the cluttered habitat.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Cedar Waxwing in a hawthorn, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/cedar-waxwing-adult-hawthorn-mia-mcpherson-2208.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/cedar-waxwing-adult-hawthorn-mia-mcpherson-2208.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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