The Tipsy Bird

The cedar waxwing is a velvety-looking brown bird with yellow-tipped tail feathers and a pale yellow breast. On top of its head sits a feather crest that it can raise or lower. It also looks as if it’s wearing a little black mask.

Not as large as robins, waxwings travel in flocks. They nest in trees late in the summer, building nests of grass, leaves, bark, and mud. There they rear three to five chicks. They don’t really sing, but whistle softly.

Cedar waxwings are active and have big appetites. Though they eat fruit and insects, their favorite food is berries. Upon discovering a berry bush, it doesn’t take a flock long to strip it clean.

Occasionally they find overripe berries that have fermented. They gobble them down anyway, and it makes them tipsy. Then they flop around on the ground until they sober up enough to get into the trees again. During this time predators can easily catch them.

Though the poor birds don’t know better, humans have reasoning abilities. You can figure out that drinking alcoholic beverages makes people drunk. It causes many accidents in which people lose their lives. And some people who tried alcohol out of curiosity or to “fit in” became alcoholics. Maybe that’s why God impressed Solomon to write, “Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise.”

MISSION: Visit an area where drunk people congregate. Watch for a while. What do you see?