Birdwatching - 3093 🐦

🦉 The Bohemian waxwing (Bombycilla garrulus)

• Bombycilla bombux (Greek) silk, cilla (Latin) tail
• garrulus lat .: garrire to chatter, babble, chirp, garrulus chatty, chirping, noisy; ax prone to

These beautiful birds are very noticeable in winter, when they raid rowan trees in large flocks. Unlike thrushes or bullfinches, they swallow berries whole, along with the seeds and pulp. Because of this, fallen birds can often be found under trees in winter, because overcooled berries cause frostbite. Many people mistakenly think that waxwings "get drunk" from fermented fruits, but this is not true, their bodies simply cannot cope with the cold. If you see such a bird under a tree, you need to take it to a safe place; after a while, the bird will come to its senses and fly away.

Waxwings arrive late, around mid- or late October, when the weather is already cool, and they begin to fly away early, although small flocks can be found as early as early May. At this time, they are especially noisy, because their mating season is already underway.