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First Documented Nest Recordof Bohemian Waxwing in Ontario

Mark K. Peck, Glenn Coady, Gerry Binsfeld, and Karl R. Konze

IntroductionThe Bohemian Waxwing (Bom­bycilla garrulus) is familiar to mostof us as an irregular winter visitorthroughout much of Ontario. Thisephemeral species usually arrives ingroups of varying sizes to feed onberries and other food sources, oftenuntil the tree or bush is stripped offruit, and then quickly moves on(Pittaway 1990, Elder 2002). Theybreed in northern boreal foreststhroughout Europe, Asia and west­ern North America. In Canada, theirnomadic winter irruptions extendtheir range south and east of theirbreeding grounds, covering much ofthe southern half of the country.

Bohemian Waxwings have beenconfirmed breeding throughoutmuch of the Yukon, British Colum­bia, western Alberta, North-westTerritories, northern Saskatchewanand northern Manitoba (Witmer2002). Breeding has not been con­firmed in Nunavut (Richards et. al.2002), and the distribution inManitoba remains poorly defined,with most of the records coming fromChurchill (Bouchart and Taylor2003). Their breeding range in east­ern Canada remains unclear. InQuebec, there have been severalrecent summer sightings but, as yet,no confirmation of breeding

(Letourneau 1996). The easternmostsummer sighting is a June recordfrom Sable Island, Nova Scotia (Tufts1986).

The first evidence of breeding inOntario was in the early 1960s nearthe junction of the Sutton andWarchesku Rivers (Schueler et al.1974). Since then, there have beensummer records from Kapuskasing(Speirs 1985) and several sightings offamily groups during the first OntarioBreeding Bird Atlas (OBBA) fromthe extreme northwest of theprovince (Cadman 1987). Provision­ally, the second OBBA (2001-2003)has reported a number of scatteredsightings and one confirmation offledged young throughout theHudson Bay Lowlands (Donald A.Sutherland, pers. comm.). Confirma­tion of breeding in Ontario tookplace in 1984 when George Fairfieldphotographed young birds being fedby adults along the Winisk River(Peck and James 1987), but a nest ofthis species was still awaiting discov­ery east of the Manitoba border. Thepurpose of this paper is to documenta nest of Bohemian Waxwing foundon 12 June 2003, north of the SwanRiver, Kenora District.

Nest RecordFrom 9-19 June 2003, the authors, as

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volunteers for the second aBBA,camped 25 kIn north of the SwanRiver on the coast of James Bay (17U425558 5966359 - ~orth AmericanDatum 1983; 53° 50' 25.47" ~, 82° 7'52.89" W) and surveyed the sur­rounding environs. There were threemajor habitats in the area: coastalbeach ridges and mudflats with mini­mal vegetation; extensive sedgemeadows mixed with networks ofsmall, shallow ponds; and narrow,treed, gravel beach ridges (Figure 1).Moving away from the coast, thetreed ridges changed from willowthickets to mature coniferous wood­lands composed mainly of WhiteSpruce (Picea glauca) and Tamarack(Larix laricina) with a willow (Salixsp.) and Speckled Alder (Alnusincana) border. Ground cover alsoincreased on the ridges, culminatingin a thick lichen/moss bed.

On the morning of 12 June, apair of Bohemian Waxwings was

observed at the edge of a sedgemeadow feeding in a small bush, lowto the ground. The birds were seenseveral times in the general vicinityduring the next several hours, hawk­ing for insects or feeding on berriesor cones. They appeared to concen­trate their foraging in one specificarea and a careful search of the loca­tion eventually revealed a suspectednest (nest location: 17U 4231715965427 - ~orth American Datum1983; 53° 49' 54.07" ~, 82° 10' 2.62"W). We kept the nest (O~RS card#175433) under observation for 15minutes, but the birds did not returnin our presence so we left to avoidany further disturbance.

This nest was located within300 metres of the first documentednest of Pine Grosbeak (Pinicolaenucleator) in Ontario (Peck et al.2004). Other birds found in the areawith confirmation of breedingincluded Green-winged Teal (Anas

Figure 1: Aerial view of forested beach ridges and sedge meadows along JamesBay coast north of the Swan River, Kenora District. Photo by Karl R. Konze.

o TARIQ BIRDS APRIL 2004

nearby were Red-tailed Hawk(Buteo jamaicensis) , AmericanThree-toed Woodpecker (Picoides

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Figure 2: Bohemian Waxwing nest tree and surrounding habitat located in the mid­dle of an open-canopied woods with White Spruce, Tamarack, willow and alder on13 June 2003. Photo by Mark K. Peck.

crecca), American Robin (Turdusmigratorius) , and Rusty Blackbird(Euphagus carolinus). Also found

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Figure 3: Nest and eggs of Bohemian Waxwing on 13 June 2003. Photo by MarkK. Peck.

dorsalis), Yellow-bellied Flycatcher(Empidonax flaviventris) , BorealChickadee (Poecile hudsonica),Winter Wren (Troglodytestroglodytes), Swainson's Thrush(Catharus ustulatus) , BlackpollWarbler (Dendroica striata), andDark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis).

We returned on 13 June andfound the birds in the same area, butnot on the nest. A check of the nestusing a mirror and pole revealed itcontained four eggs. The nest andthe eggs matched the generaldescription for those of BohemianWaxwing. The nest was located 3.2m high in a 7 m tall White Sprucewith a 24 cm diameter at breastheight (DBH), and was located inthe middle of an open woods withWhite Spruce, Tamarack, willow andalder (Figure 2). The tree wasclimbed and photographs and nesto TARJO BIRDS APRIL 2004

measurements were taken. The nestwas on a horizontal branch withsome additional branches support­ing it along the side. It was looselyconstructed and poorly concealedbut it blended in well with the mossand other twigs at the site. The edgeof the nest was 15 cm out from thetrunk. It had an outside depth of 100mm, inside depth of 54 mm, an out­side diameter of 150 mm and aninside diameter of 90 mm. It wasconstructed using spruce andTamarack twigs, lichens and moss,and lined with grasses, black andgreen mosses, lichens, plant fibreand down. The nest contained fouroval, pale blue eggs, randomly spot­ted with black and grey blotches(Figure 3). The eggs were not meas­ured due to safety concerns.

Our final visit to the site was on17 June. A Bohemian Waxwing flew

off the nest as we approached anddid not return while we remained atthe site. The nest contained foureggs when checked with the mirror.Both birds were seen in the generalvicinity of the nest during this visit.

DiscussionAt present, this represents the east­ernmost nest record of BohemianWaxwing for North America.Whether or not this is a reflection ofan eastern range extension or simplyenhanced range definition of anoth­er poorly documented northernbreeding species in Ontario is noteasily answered. Avian surveysthroughout the Hudson BayLowlands prior to the first and sec­ond Ontario Breeding Bird Atlaseswere rare and of limited duration.The OBBAs have no doubt provid­ed critical information on the distri­bution of northern species, unavail­able historically. Difficulty in assess­ing the distribution of erratic specieslike Bohemian Waxwing may be fur­ther compounded by their annualmovements in response to regionalclimatic conditions and/or seasonalripening of fruit. The numeroussightings from the second OBBAand the recent work summarized inthe Quebec Breeding Bird Atlas(Letourneau 1996) certainly suggestthat this species is now establishedas a summer resident in bothOntario and Quebec.

The circumstances of the nestand eggs of the Bohemian Waxwingdescribed above match the descrip­tions throughout this species' range

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with two minor exceptions: nest com­mencement timing, and propensityfor semi-colonial breeding. Witmer(2002) states that BohemianWaxwings may begin nesting laterthan other species, possibly becauseof late ripening of new-season fruits.Based on this nest and the breedingrecords of Fairfield and Sutherland,we find no evidence to suggest laternesting by this species. The previousrecords of fledged young were bothrecorded in mid-july. Working backfrom those dates, and assuming a 13­14 day incubation period and a 16­day nestling period (Baicich andHarrison 1997), nest commencementwould have begun in early to midJune. The Swan River nest had a com­plete clutch of four eggs on 13 June,similar to a number of other tree­nesting passerines we found in thearea. The behaviour of the birdsaround the nest and the amount oftime both birds were seen together,away from the nest, suggest that incu­bation had been initiated recently.According to Lyle Walton (pers.comm.) of the Ontario Ministry ofNatural Resources, 2003 was an aver­age spring with regard to temporalweather pattern. Berries were abun­dant in the area and there is no rea­son to suspect that there were insuffi­cient food resources in the area todelay nesting. Finally, despite spend­ing several hours over a three-dayperiod in the vicinity, we did notobserve any additional BohemianWaxwings and we do not suspect anysemi-colonial breeding in thisinstance, as has been previously doc-

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umented in other areas (Cadman1987).

AcknowledgementsWe would like to thank MikeCadman and Nicole Kopysh of theOBBA for their assistance. Special

Literature CitedBaicich, P.J. and C.J.O. Harrison. 1997. A

Guide to the Nests, Eggs, and Nestlings ofNorth American Birds. Second Edition.Academic Press, San Diego, California.

Bouchart, M. and P. Taylor. 2003.Bohemian Waxwing (Bombycilla garru­Ius). P. 313 in The Birds of Manitoba(Manitoba Avian Research Committee,editors). Manitoba Naturalists Society,Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Cadman, M.D. 1987. Bohemian Waxwing(Bombycilla garrulus). Pp. 548-549 inAtlas of the Breeding Birds of Ontario(M.D. Cadman, PEl Eagles, and EM.Helleiner, editors). University of WaterlooPress, Waterloo, Ontario.

Elder, D.H. 2002. Feeding behaviour ofBohemian Waxwings. Ontario Birds 20:19-20.

Letourneau, V. 1996. Bohemian Waxwing(Bombycilla garrulus). Pp. 1172-1173 inThe Breeding Birds of Quebec:<A.tlas ofthe Breeding Birds of Southern Quebec (1Gauthier and Y. Aubry, editors).Association qw§becoise des groupes d'or­nithologues, Province of Quebec Societyfor the Protection of Birds, CanadianWildlife Service, Environment Canada,Quebec Region, Montreal.

thanks go to the Ministry of NaturalResources, in particular to KenAbraham and Lyle Walton. Wewould also like to thank our MNRpilots, Frank Aquino and MikeCoyne, who arranged our flightsand ensured our safety.

Peck, G.K. and R.D. James. 1987. BreedingBirds of Ontario: Nidiology and Distribu­tion. Volume 2: Passerines. Life SciencesMiscellaneous Publications, Royal OntarioMuseum, Toronto.

Peck, M.K., G. Coady, G. Binsfeld, and K.R.Konze. 2004. First documented nesting ofPine Grosbeak in Ontario. Ontario Birds22: 2-8.

PiUaway, R. 1990. Bohemian Waxwings eat­ing tree buds. Ontario Birds 8: 75-76.

Richards, J.M., Y.R. Tymstra, and A.W. White.2002. Birds of Nunavut: A Checklist. BirdersJournal Publishing Inc., Whitby, Ontario.

Schueler, F.W., D.H. Baldwin, and J.D.Rising. 1974. The status of birds at selectedsites in northern Ontario. Canadian Field­Naturalist 88: 141-150.

Speirs, J.M. 1985. Birds of Ontario. Volume2. Natural Heritage/Natural History Inc.,Toronto.

Tufts, R.W. 1986. The Birds of Nova Scotia.Third Edition. Nimbus Publishing andNova Scotia Museum, Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Witmer, M.C. 2002. Bohemian Waxwing(Bombycilla garrulus). In The Birds ofNorth America, No 714 (A. Poole and EGill, editors). The Birds of North America,Inc., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Mark K. Peck, Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Biology, RoyalOntario Museum, 100 Queen's Park, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2C6

Glenn Coady, 604 - 60 Mountview Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M6P 2L4

Gerry Binsfeld, 165 Hambly Street, King City, Ontario L7B IJ2

Karl R. Konze, 46 - 120 Country Club Drive, Guelph, Ontario NIE 3K7

ONTARIO BIRDS APRIL 2004