Cedar Waxwing

Bombycilla cedrorum Order: Passeriformes Family: Bombycillidae (Waxwings)
Bombycilla cedrorum Order: Passeriformes Family: Bombycillidae (Waxwings)
Cedar Waxwing

This compact crested bird, drawn to fruit trees, is beloved for its sleek plumage, tender sociable flocking behaviors, and soft, sibilant calls, which are one of the first bird calls people lose as their high-frequency hearing degrades in middle age. To hear the high-frequency songs and calls of this or any other species with high-pitched vocalizations, even with my hearing aids, and to get a direction for them, I use Lang Elliott’s “Hear Birds Again”. The app is free to download, and the website has clear and easy directions to make the fairly inexpensive binaural headphones. To know if the bird is there in the first place, I use the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Merlin app.

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