Eight-year-old Kiptyn House is a bird whisperer. Close to 8:30 p.m., on Monday, July 23, 2018, he came walking slowly beside his house, on E. North Street, Morrison, IL. He held a stick.
Gripping the end of that “walking” stick was a small, young, gorgeous bird. Every few moments, to keep its balance, the nestling would flutter steel-gray wings that shaded into dark teal at their tips.
Mother Nature had drawn a thin, white line from each shoulder to wingtip and a striking white outline around its eyes–for no reason other than to make one say, “Oooh! How pretty!”
The most distinctive feature was the short tail. It was visible from a distance of several yards. Blunt cut, the bird’s dark gray tail was edged with a quarter inch of bright yellow-orange. It appeared as if someone had dipped the tail into neon paint.
Brother Tobin, left, age 11, came to look when the Editor began to question Kiptyn, as did their mother, Andrea House.
After some research, it appears this was a juvenile Cedar Waxwing.