Cedar Waxwing

One of the first birds I came across Saturday morning at Jackson Bottom was a small flock of Cedar Waxwings. They were feeding on insects over the Tualatin River. They would spend some time perched on a branch of a large tree on the other side of the river and then fly out over the river to catch an insect before returning to a branch in the same tree. I took pictures of then while they were perched, switching from one to another until I noticed a couple on a branch partaking in some interesting behavior.

One (I would later learn it was the male), would start at end of the branch with an insect in its beak as seen below.It would then inch its way over to the other (the female) until they were side by side.

Finally, they would touch beaks as the male would offer the insect to the female.

They repeated this over a few times until, I read, that the female would take the offering from the male. It seems I experience and learn something new each time I venture out.