{"id":70172,"date":"2020-05-22T06:00:38","date_gmt":"2020-05-22T12:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=70172"},"modified":"2025-05-10T13:00:05","modified_gmt":"2025-05-10T18:00:05","slug":"searching-and-listening-for-cedar-waxwings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/05\/22\/searching-and-listening-for-cedar-waxwings\/","title":{"rendered":"Searching And Listening For Cedar Waxwings"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"StaringStaring Cedar Waxwing adult in a hawthorn tree \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 500, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Every time I’ve gone up into the Wasatch Mountains lately I have been searching and listening for Cedar Waxwings to observe and photograph. The serviceberries, chokecherries, and currants have started to bloom at higher elevations and I hope to find some Cedar Waxwings feasting on their flower petals.<\/p>\n

Last year I found a small flock of waxwings feasting on the delicate flower petals of hawthorns<\/span><\/a> near a creek and this year I’d love to add some photos to my galleries of them eating the petals of another kind of flowering tree. It doesn’t matter to me if it is serviceberries, chokecherries or the blossoms of a currant.<\/p>\n

I would not have found the Cedar Waxwings feasting on the hawthorn blossoms last year if I hadn’t stopped to eat the apple I brought for breakfast because they weren’t in the hawthorns when I first arrived. It took a few minutes before I heard their calls and located the waxwings in the trees.<\/p>\n

Not everyone can hear the calls<\/span><\/a> of Cedar Waxwings because their calls are very high pitched. I can hear them and those calls often clue me in on their location which allows me to photograph them, sometimes.<\/p>\n

I’ve noticed that I can hear the Cedar Waxwings best when I am traveling slowly down the road with my window open and I stop, turn off my engine, and wait to see if the birds I’ve heard will make an appearance. My Jeep is pretty quiet even when I am traveling on gravel based or bumpy roads which is great for listening for birds. If I can hear birds, I can find them.<\/p>\n

Next week the weather forecast looks much better here in northern Utah than the weather has been this past week and I am looking forward to getting back up high in the Wasatch Mountains to search for birds.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Cedar Waxwing photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every time I’ve gone up into the Wasatch Mountains lately I have been searching and listening for Cedar Waxwings to observe and photograph.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":144182,"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":[4004,4599,4897,2304,4598,7298,9943,2217,5370,6566,6583,9944,4104,7297,6620,5875,4427,5916,4600],"class_list":["post-70172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-cedar-waxwings","category-east-canyon","category-morgan-county","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","tag-adult","tag-bombycilla-cedrorum","tag-branch","tag-calls","tag-cedar-waxwing","tag-crataegus-rivularis","tag-flower-petals","tag-flowers","tag-forest","tag-hawthorn","tag-leaves","tag-listening","tag-perched","tag-river-hawthorn","tag-searching","tag-staring","tag-tree","tag-waxwing","tag-waxwings"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/cedar-waxwing-hawthorn-mia-mcpherson-1945.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-ifO","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":70172,"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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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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Hawthorns","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 10, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"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!","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":104602,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/07\/29\/adult-cedar-waxwing-in-morgan-county\/","url_meta":{"origin":70172,"position":5},"title":"Adult Cedar Waxwing In Morgan County","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 29, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I was happy to photograph an adult Cedar Waxwing perched on top of a willow thicket in Morgan County high in the Wasatch Mountains four days ago.","rel":"","context":"In 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