One of the most beautiful birds you want to visit in the garden is the cedar waxwings. These birds are physically striking, highlighted by the black mask on their faces. These birds are colorful, too, with red and waxy tips on their feathers and light yellow color on their breast.
But how to attract cedar waxwings? These birds offer an excellent view once they are in your backyard, but there are certain things that you can do to effectively entice them to stay and visit your place frequently.
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Cedar Waxwing Loves to Eat Fruits
If you want to attract cedar waxwings, you will need to familiarize what cedar waxwings like to eat. Then, you can provide them with the food they eat in the wild in your backyard to attract these birds to visit your place.
These birds like to eat fruits since they forage in their flock year-round. So, increasing the chance to attract them will depend on the way you will add fruit-bearing fruits and berry-producing trees in your backyard. Adding shrubs in your backyard will also give additional food sources for these colorful birds.
Among the fruit-bearing trees you can plant are strawberry, winterberry, serviceberry, juniper, hawthorn, crabapple, madrone, and many more. Since these birds travel in the flock, expect a single tree to be a strip with all its fruits once these birds discover it.
Strawberry
The best thing about strawberries is they are easy to grow in the backyard. You can have the option to grow them on the ground or in other places such as in the garden or in hanging pots. It will all depend on the availability of the space.
Cedar waxwings love to eat this fruit since the size is not that big. These birds like to eat the fruit whole, which means they prefer to devour small fruits. The size of the strawberry is perfect for these birds to eat in their meal.
Serviceberry
Planting serviceberry can help draw cedar waxwing into your garden, but it also provides other substantial benefits to you. For one, the fruits can also be eaten by you, while flowers will decorate your garden during the spring.
Cedar waxwings usually look for serviceberry during the summer. Since this fruit is full of sugar, it makes us an ideal snack for these beautiful creatures but expects them to eat all of the fruits available in the backyard since these birds travel in the flock.
Winterberry
Cedar waxwings and winterberry are made for each other. You can expect a large flock of these birds to eat every berry found on each branch during the winter. If you love watching cedar waxwings, then planting a lot of winterberries will give you a once-in-a-year spectacle.
Winterberries will attract those beautiful birds and enhance your winter garden. A berry-covered branch of the winterberry can do wonders in your winter garden. Add the lovely visitor; then you can enjoy the sight of the beautiful birds in your garden.
Bird Feeders for Cedar Waxwings
Unfortunately, these beautiful birds may not come into a bird feeder so quickly. However, if you want to learn how to attract cedar waxwings to a feeder, using the correct type of bird feeder while filling the right bird food that they like is a must.
Cedar waxwings will come in large and open tray feeders. The most suitable type of bird feeder that you can use is a platform bird feeder or a tray feeder. You can put dried berries, chopped grapes, raisins, and small apple chunks to lure them.
Platform Feeders
Platform feeders are perfect for cedar waxwing because they provide ample open space for the birds. Since these beautiful birds come in a flock, you will need a larger space for them to move around while searching for the food they eat.
Tray Feeder
A tray feeder can also be an option to attract cedar waxwings since it is built similarly to platform feeders. Since tray feeders do not have feeding ports or shapes, they can provide open spaces for the flock of the cedar waxwings.
Providing Water Source for Cedar Waxwings
It can be challenging for cedar waxwings to come in a bird feeder, but it will be easier for these birds to go in a birdbath. But it would be best if you used a large birdbath that can accommodate many birds once they come into your backyard.
Bird Bath Requirement
Since cedar waxwings come in a flock, you will need a large birdbath to accommodate them. The birdbath should have a large and wide basin to provide enough space for the birds. The basin should also be 2 to 3 inches deep for the birds to be comfortable bathing and drinking.
Positioning of the birdbath is also very important to attract cedar waxwings. Putting it in place under direct exposure to the sun is advised to catch the attention of the passing cedar waxwings.
Adding a wiggler or a bubbler will provide the extra motion to make it more noticeable. But make sure to provide non-stop water resources to accommodate the flock of the birds. A heated birdbath is encouraged for the birds to use during winter despite the snowy condition.
Conclusion
A flock of cedar waxwings visiting your backyard is a sight for any birder. These beautiful and colorful birds will make your garden and your yard colorful as they try to find food that they can eat in your place.
But you must learn how to attract cedar waxwings in your garden. We have presented several ways to do it. All of the methods we have shown have been proven to be very effective in luring these birds into the backyard.