Cedar Waxwing
A species of Waxwings, Also known as Cedar Bird Scientific name : Bombycilla cedrorum Genus : Waxwings
Cedar Waxwing, A species of Waxwings
Also known as:
Cedar Bird
Botanical name: Bombycilla cedrorum
Genus: Waxwings
Content
Description People often ask General Info
Description
The cedar Waxwing is a sleek bird recognizable by its soft coloring and the red, waxy tips found on their wing feathers—although those tips can be hard to spot from far away. A social bird, they stay together in flocks throughout the year, plucking berries from trees and insects from the water. Keep an ear out for their thin, piping call.
Size
18 cm
Life Expectancy
8 years
Nest Placement
Tree
Clutch Size
2 - 6 eggs
Incubation Period
1 - 2 broods
Number of Broods
11 - 13 days
Nestling Period
14 - 18 days
Feeding Habits
Cedar Waxwing primarily consume fruits such as serviceberry, strawberry, mulberry, and cedar berries, and insects like mayflies and dragonflies. In winter, they feed on various berries and in summer, supplement their diet with insects, often caught mid-flight or picked from vegetation.
Habitat
Cedar Waxwing primarily occupy edge environments where open woodlands or forests blend with areas yielding berry sources. They thrive across various altitudes and climates, from streamside woodlands to old fields, grasslands, and desert washes. Preferring vegetation like deciduous, coniferous, and mixed woods, they adapt well to urban settings, including parks, gardens, and landscaped areas with fruiting trees or shrubs. During winter, they often frequent places with abundant fruit, such as parks or forest edges, and may reside in tropical highlands.
Nest Behavior
Cedar Waxwing pairs choose nest sites together, but building is largely done by females over 5 to 6 days, possibly reusing materials from others' nests.
Nest Characteristics
Cedar Waxwing nests are built typically at the fork of a horizontal branch, at heights between 3 to 50 feet. The bulky cup, approximately 5 inches across and 3 inches tall, comprises twigs, grasses, cattail down, and other materials, lined with fine roots and pine needles, sometimes adorned with grasses or catkins.
Dite type
Frugivorous
People often ask
General Info
Feeding Habits
Bird food type
Fruit
Bird Feeder Type
Platform
Sounds
Call
Recording location: United States
Behavior
Cedar Waxwing are highly sociable, often spotted in large flocks that exhibit a strong sense of community, even when nesting. Their diet mainly consists of fruits, which they consume whole with precision, either perched or while exhibiting their adept hovering technique. Insect hunting adds variety, employing a mix of static sallies from perches or dynamic flights above water. Courting rituals are a delicate dance of gift exchange, marked by mutual hops and bill contacts, where items like fruits are passed back and forth, ultimately consumed by the female. Flight is characterized by robust, rhythmic wingbeats, emphasizing their vitality and grace.
Distribution Area
This species is nomadic and irruptive, with erratic winter movements, though most of the population migrates farther south into the United States and beyond, sometimes reaching as far as northern South America. They will move in huge numbers if berry supplies are low. Rare vagrants have reached western Europe, and there are two recorded occurrences of cedar waxwing sightings in Great Britain. 
Species Status
Waxwings are evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species. Populations are increasing in their range partly because fields are being allowed to grow into forests and shrublands, and fruiting trees like mountain ash are being planted as landscaping. On the other hand, cedar waxwings do sometimes crash into windows, and get hit by cars while foraging along roadsides.
Scientific Classification
Phylum
Chordates Class
Birds Order
Perching birds Family
Bombycillidae Genus
Waxwings Species
Cedar Waxwing 
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