(See member picture gallery below).  The bird of the month for March, Bombycilla cedrorum, is one of only three species worldwide in the family Bombycillidae. This starling-sized bird with a vaguely flycatcher appearance looks like neither bird when seen adequately, and sounds like nothing else. This black-masked brown gray and lemoncolored bird enjoys eating fruit; indeed, specializes in it to such an extent that it provides the red waxy bits that gave it its common name. Despite their rather outré appearance, which one would think makes them easy to spot, they’re like parakeets in that regard: a whole flock can disappear right into a bare tree!Often the easiest way to detect their presence is by sound: their high-pitched “hissy whistle” is characteristic. If you get a chance, you should read the entry in John James Audubon’s 1831 Ornithological Biography (available online at http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Ornithological_Biography/Volume_1/Cedar_Bird); it’s quite entertaining, and poses a question that researchers have answered today to their satisfaction (about the lateness of their breeding efforts compared to most other birds). Come hear more about this interesting winter resident of Palm BeachCounty at our March meeting!( (Photographer’s please note that next month’s April 2013 Bird will be the Barn Swallow)

Cedar Waxwing, Marlborough, Ct by Larry Hess

Cedar Waxwing by Bill Munro

Cedar Waxwing by Bill Munro