I read the following excerpt yesterday about cedar waxwings on The Cornell Lab’s All About Birds website.
“During courtship, males and females hop towards each other, alternating back and forth and sometimes touching their bills together. Males often pass a small item like a fruit, insect, or flower petal, to the female. After taking the fruit, the female usually hops away and then returns giving back the item to the male. They repeat this a few times until, typically, the female eats the gift.”
This morning I watched the male pluck an Indian Plum berry and fly over to a nearby limb where the female joined him. They gently passed the berry back and forth four or five times before it was eaten. This is a tender, sweet way to form a bond and become a pair.
