He arrived just a day after the Memphis Commercial Appeal in West Tennessee featured waxwings on their front page.
It seems that a hard freeze in one area caused berries to rupture and ferment and a flock of waxwings were noticed by many to be acting strangely, colliding with objects and flying 'under the influence'. Not humorous for the birds, to say the least, but according to Cornell this is apparently not rare either. What a mean trick from mother nature. Below, a few more photos of cedar waxwings. I encountered this group a week ago while on a walk near the Hiwassee Refuge. They arrived in a band of fifty or more and were enjoying privet berries. Privet is an invasive, non-native, berry producing shrub said to be less nutritious than our native berries and one of the last selected for feasting by wandering wintering flocks.
I'd say from all the chattering and berry picking going on, these birds weren't complaining.
