What birds were these?

March 30, 2013 7:16 AM

I live in the Western NC mountains. Early this morning I saw a line of birds flying very high, ( they looked like a ribbon of dots), and fast, from south to north. The formation was strikingly beautiful as they were following in a wavering line rather than the typical V formation. What species did I see?
posted by haikuku to Pets & Animals (5 answers total)

Cedar Waxwings?
posted by tenaciousmoon at 8:01 AM on March 30, 2013

Best answer: Do you mean the line was like one arm of a V? Geese don't always make the second arm of the V shape, and sometimes fly with a leader which has only one bird in its slipstream instead of two.
posted by anadem at 9:53 AM on March 30, 2013

Beyond "migrating birds", I fear it's going to be difficult to answer your question.
posted by humboldt32 at 9:57 AM on March 30, 2013

I've seen geese, ducks, swans, cormorants and white-fronted ibis fly in formations like this (many of these were ID'd by better birders than me). The V formation is very common for many birds, but even the ones most likely to use it don't use it and only it.
posted by rtha at 11:46 AM on March 30, 2013

White-faced ibis, that should be.
posted by rtha at 12:23 PM on March 30, 2013