Waxwings usually congregate in
groups
photo © 2007 by Emily Tyler
The elegant and charming Cedar Waxwings are nomadic birds, following their primary food sources, fruiting shrubs
and trees, as in season. They are usually seen in flocks, sometimes up to a couple of hundred birds, but move
around in smaller groups as they dart from tree to tree, searching for ripe berries.
What to Look For:
· Sleek, medium-sized crested bird, with overall gray brown plumage
· Adults have sharp black facemask edged with white, and black chin-patch
· Pale yellow belly-feathers
· Bills small, wings pointed and tail square with distinct yellow band at terminal tip
· Calls are very high pitched "bzeee" notes
· Sexes differ little
Where to Look:
· Nests in open woods and fields with fruiting shrubs and trees
· In migration they flock and seek out ripe fruits, including mulberry, cedar, pyracantha, American holly
· In winter in open woodlands, parks, gardens and often in suburban areas with ornamental shrubs
Range & Habitat:
· Summer range is a wide horizontal band across Canada and US border extending to central US,
especially prevalent in the eastern part of the US.
· In winter they spread over most of the continental US, numbers far greater in the eastern half.
· Frequent habitats with water and open woodland that support fruiting shrubs and trees.
Diet:
· Fruits of trees and shrubs like mulberries, cedar, holly pyracantha, cherry, etc.
· They are also excellent insect catchers and can be seen “flycatching”
· Insects eaten include carpenter ants, cicadas, caterpillars, scale insects and cankerworms.
Lifespan:
· On an average, they live one to two years.
· Maximum natural life span of 7 years has been recorded
Courtship & Nesting:
· Courtship begins during spring migration
· Birds will often pass a berry back and forth from bill to bill
· Nests are a bulky, open cup made of twigs, grasses, mosses, pine needles, and other materials, lined with
finer fibers, hair and spider webs.
· The nest can be located anywhere from 6 - 50 feet above ground in a shade tree, conifer tree or even a
shrub on a horizontal limb or fork.
· The eggs are pale blue-gray with small black spots.
· They are late nesters, probably a because of their dietary reliance on summer-ripening fruits
Did You Know?
· The name "waxwing" comes from the waxy red appendages found in variable numbers on the tips of the
secondaries of some birds, purpose not quite understood
· It is one of the few temperate dwelling birds that specializes in eating fruit. It can survive on fruit alone
for several months.
· It is vulnerable to alcohol intoxication and death after eating fermented fruit.
· They often fly in formation, the whole group turning and looping in synchronized motion
· An assemblage of waxwings is called an aristocracy.
--This material compiled by members of the PBC Education Committee; Louise Brown, Beth Bursuck, Dan Chambers, Judi Durr, Jean Murdick, Emily Tyler, Mary Woodrow and Melissa Whitmire