An Apple a day helps the Waxwing to stay!

Waxwing - Tim Melling

Waxing lyrical in Merseyside

Over the past month, nature lovers across the UK have reported  sightings of an exotic-looking bird called a waxwing. 

These striking birds arrive from Scandinavia every few winters when a lack of food forces them to fly south. The last major influx of waxwings in the UK was in 2010.

Their colours mean they wouldn't look out of place in a tropical rainforest, with a prominent reddish-brown crest, yellow and white in the wings and a yellow-tipped tail.

In Merseyside, waxwings have been spotted in Liverpool, Birkenhead, and Bootle .

Chris Collett from the RSPB in Northern England said:  Waxwings often travel in flocks and move around together, taking advantage of a good food source and then moving on. They are not fussy about where they eat and it s quite common to see them in town centres or supermarket car parks, or pretty much anywhere that there are suitable berries like rowan, hawthorn and cotoneaster.

This year has been a mixed one for natural food sources with some varieties of fruits having a particularly poor season.   Sloes, apples, pears and the berries of rowan and hawthorn have been reported to be

less abundant than usual in parts of the country.  That means less food for wildlife including migrant birds like waxwings.

Putting fruit in the garden could be a help to waxwings if natural sources do run out.  Try spiking a pear on a stick or threading fruit slices on a string and dangling from tree branches.

Fatballs and good quality bird food in the garden can be a big help to other birds too at this time of year.  Find out how to do more at www.rspb.org.uk/hfw and register now to take part in the RSPB s Big

Garden Birdwatch 2013 at www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch.

Chris Collett, RSPB Regional Communications Manager