Waxing lyrical

Instantly recognisable by their bright blazes of colour, waxwing are among our prettiest birds — but you may have to travel to see one

- LINDSAY WADDELL

I first saw this little bird when I was a youngster; it was feeding on berries in a garden as I walked through Dundee north of the Tay. I did not see one again until I was working in the north-east of Yorkshire seven or eight years later. It’s one of those birds that, even if you have never seen one, if you have any interest in ornithology you will recognise as soon as you spot it. The downside is that unless you live on the east side of the country, the Solway estuary or the east side of Northern Ireland, you are unlikely to see one as those are the areas the bird comes to when is crosses the north sea.

The waxwing, Bombycilla garrulus, is one of only three species; the other two are the Japanese and the cedar.

Ours is not what you might call a common visitor compared with many, with numbers only in the region of around 10,000; waterfowl number hundreds of thousands. It’s a striking and very dapper bird, with a notable crest and beautiful plumage, with quite a variety of hues.

The bulk of these are browns, buffs, greys and chestnut, but what sets this little bird apart from many others is the contrasting brighter colours. The body is variations of brown, with a black bib with white stripes up either side. A black stripe from the eye runs up into the crest, bordered with white.