Waxwings
Bombycilla cedrorum
The Cedar Waxwing is a sleek, crested songbird known for its silky plumage and distinctive mask. These highly social birds often gather in large flocks, especially when feasting on berries. Their diet heavily influences their movements and behaviors throughout the year.
Typical adult measurements.
Individuals and populations vary.
01 / The telltale details
Start with shape and behavior. Then look for the smaller details.
Features a prominent crest on its head and a black mask across its eyes, often outlined in white.
Body is a blend of brown, gray, and lemon-yellow, with a pale yellow belly.
The dark gray tail is typically tipped with a bright yellow band. Some individuals may have orange tail tips due to diet.
Some secondary wing feathers have small, red, waxy tips, which give the bird its name.
02 / A place in the world
Cedar Waxwings inhabit a variety of environments, including deciduous, coniferous, and mixed woodlands, particularly near streams. They are also common in open forests, old fields, suburban parks, and yards with fruiting trees and shrubs.
Their breeding range extends across the southern half of Canada and the northern half of the United States. In winter, they can be found throughout much of the United States, Mexico, Central America, and occasionally into northwestern South America.
Cedar Waxwings are migratory, moving south in the fall and north in the spring. Their movements are often nomadic and irregular, with both breeding and wintering areas varying year to year based on food availability.
03 / Listen a little closer
Their calls are high-pitched, thin, and trilling whistles, often heard as flocks fly overhead.
04 / The life behind the feathers
Their diet primarily consists of fleshy fruits and berries year-round, including juniper, dogwood, wild cherries, and serviceberries. During the summer, they supplement their diet with insects.
These birds typically forage in flocks, plucking berries while perching, hovering, or even hanging upside down. They swallow fruits whole, and unlike many fruit-eating birds, they digest the seeds rather than regurgitating them.
Nesting often begins late in the summer. The female constructs a bulky cup nest of twigs, grasses, and other materials, usually in a tree. She lays 2-6 pale blue to bluish-gray eggs, which she incubates while the male provides food.
Cedar Waxwings are highly social and non-territorial, often forming large flocks. They engage in courtship rituals where males offer food or petals to females, sometimes passing items back and forth.
One more reason to pay attention
Cedar Waxwings can develop orange tail tips instead of yellow if they consume berries from certain introduced honeysuckle species while growing new feathers.
They can occasionally become intoxicated from eating overripe, fermented berries.
The name 'Bombycilla cedrorum' translates from Latin to 'silk-tail of the cedars,' referring to their soft plumage and diet.
AI-assisted species research. Prepared September 2026. Details can vary across regions and populations.