This quote was in a thread started by a member looking for Sitka mountain ash seeds, so not focused on birds getting drunk on the berries. But this came up on my Facebook feed today. Waxwings: The Drunk Birds of the World - Hasan Jasim There is a photo of a dozen birds passed out on a sidewalk.
Cedar Waxwings, again: Drunk birds found dead after eating fermented berries and flying into Vancouver house's window.
There may be more than just birds getting tipsy on berries contributing to Cedar Waxwing deaths. As documented in the link below Waxwings that have eaten Nandina berries die from Hydrogen Cyanide poisoning. Mountain Ash berries also contain Hydrogen Cyanide, in the seeds in particular. I know that Purple Martins, an aerial insectivore that nests in manmade nest boxes in BC, have been observed (by me) to take pieces of Prunus spp into their nest boxes at or about hatching time. One theory being that the leaves release 'natural fumigants', hydrogen cyanide, which may deter nest parasites. So, it may be possible that the birds are drunk or even poisoned by Cyanide gas, or both. nandina-berries-kill-birds dn21850-drunk-birds-had-one-too-many-berries-to-blame
Oh wow, Nandina has such pretty leaves and seems very popular in condo gardens (eg those ones in Yaletown near Roundhouse park - where leaves are (purposely) imprinted in to streets no doubt in many other parts of city along sidewalk plantings in West End and at UBC etc I saw cedar waxwings earlier autumn 2023 making quick harvest of neighbours’ honeysuckle vine berries here’s an example of Nandina avail in Greater Vancouver https://plants.gardenworks.ca/11190002/Plant/7509/Sienna_Sunrise_Nandina/
While honeysuckle, native and non-native, don't appear to be toxic to birds many parts of the plants are toxic to dogs, cats and humans. The second link shows that even though not toxic to birds the fruits do alter birds appearance. honeysuckle-toxicity mystery-solved-invasive-berries-blame-turning-flickers-feathers-pink I think there is more to the issue of some non-native plants than solely their potential invasiveness.
Starting to be a good invasion of Waxwings in Britain this autumn, with several thousand reported along the length of the east coast from Shetland to East Anglia. I'm hoping I'll see some in the next few days. I'll post pics if successful :-) Map: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F9yJnSJWkAAJE5U?format=png&name=900x900
About 30 today! Dull cloudy day so the pics are not too good, heavily brightened. Should get better over the next week or two...
A nice sunny day today, so some better pics :-) Perching up in treetops and feeding on Japanese Rowan Sorbus commixta berries
Nice photos, Michael. In over 11,000 postings, is this thread only the first one in which you've posted a photo? We've been missing out all these years.
those are amazing photos - i assume in UK? i saw this article today LINK below I wonder if waxwing get a new name ? https://www.coastreporter.net/in-th...ch-of-birds-will-be-getting-new-names-7810831
Thanks! Yes, in northeast England. We are having a 'Waxwing winter' this year, with much larger numbers than usual. Waxwings aren't slated for a new name, the only ones being renamed are American species named after individual people, like Audubon's Warbler. It also won't affect scientific names (so that will remain Setophaga auduboni).
Nice photos! I'm surprised that the scientific names won't be affected. Changing common names by decree seems like an oxymoron.
Common names of birds are "official" (i.e., there is a determining body responsible for them), unlike common names of plants.
They are for plants in UK and most other European countries, too; BSBI being the determining body for English names of European plants, Tela Botanica likewise for French names, etc.