The evidence for Bohemian waxwing intoxication is somewhat circumstantial but quite plentiful. And while it’s likely the birds get tipsy from eating fermented berries, sober birds smack into windows too.
The city is studded with ornamental berry trees like mountain ash, and as temperatures turn cold, sugars in those berries ferment, said Rick Sinnott, a retired Alaska Department of Fish and Game wildlife biologist.
“I don’t think they eat fermented berries on purpose — like people go to the bar — but that’s what is there,” Sinnott said.Staff of the Stohler and Lonergan law office in Palmer said sticky notes were put on the windows in an attempt to keep Bohemian waxwings from flying into the glass. The birds are regular visitors to the fruiting trees outside. Photographed on February 15, 2023.
a local bird rehabilitation organization, has received around six Bohemian waxwings that struck windows since November. It’s hard to say whether they were drunk — by the time they arrive at the center, the birds are already acting stunned or concussed, having just hit their heads, said Katie Thorman, wildlife rehabilitation assistant.“Unless there’s a way I can test their blood alcohol or breathalyze them — maybe someday,” Thorman said.
“Which helps them probably combat getting drunk more than say, like, another bird that eats just fruit a little bit,” Gibson said. “But still, if they eat enough, they do get drunk. And it does happen.”
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