return to Bird Thumbnail Images

I found dozens of Cedar Waxwings feasting on ripe mulberries in late April at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma.  In earlier times these birds were appreciated for more than just their beauty:

"...The Holly, the Vines, the Persimon, the Pride-of-China, and various other trees, supply [the Cedar Bird] with plenty of berries and fruit, on which they fatten, and become so tender and juicy as to be sought by every epicure for the table.  I have know an instance of a basketful of these little birds having been delivered to New Orleans as a Christmas present.  The donor, however, was disappointed in his desire to please his friend in that city, for it was afterwards discovered that the steward of the steamer, in which they were shipped, made pies of them for the benefit of the passengers." 
              John James Audubon, 
              Ornithological Biography, 1827