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Cedar Waxwing

Bombycilla cedrorumOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Waxwings (Bombycillidae)
Codes: Common Name: CEDW Scientific Name: BOMCED ITIS Taxonomic No.: 178532
Least Concern
 
Cedar Waxwing
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Birdman Mel's Backyard Tips
Jelly Jar Jelly Feeder
The orange "blossum" replaces the lid of a jelly jar.
Attract Orioles with Fruit
Sliced orange secures easily to the center of the ring. Low cost.
Attract with Nectar
Hex shaped nectar feeds several Orioles. Nectar kept in fridge.
Charm and Attraction
Lovely copper umbrella keeps fruit cool and looks great.

Overview

Cedar Waxwing: Small waxwing, red-brown upperparts, pale slate-gray rump, buff underparts. Head is crested, has black mask with narrow white band below. Yellow-tipped tail, white undertail coverts. Wings have red wax-like tips on secondaries from which it gets its name. Black bill, legs and feet.

Range and Habitat

Cedar Waxwing: Breeds from southeastern Alaska east to Newfoundland and south to California, Illinois, and Virginia. Spends winters from British Columbia, the Great Lakes region, and New England southward. Preferred habitats include open woodlands, orchards, and residential areas.

Topo Map: Perching-like Body


Listen to Call

Voice Text

Call is thin, high-pitched warbled zeee or zeeet.

Interesting Facts

 Cedar waxwings are the most specialized fruit-eating birds.  Rather than regurgitating the fruit seeds, they eliminate them with their waste.

 Orange, rather than yellow, terminal bands now seen on some tails are attributed to pigments found in an alien honeysuckle fruit introduced to their diet.

 A group of waxwings are collectively known as "an ear-full of waxwings", and a "museum of waxwings."


Bird Term Glossary



Author

Gary Owen Dick

Splitbar
Range Map for Cedar Waxwing

Related Birds

European Starling
Phainopepla
Northern Cardinal
Bohemian Waxwing
.
Family Waxwing (Bombycillidae)_blue
Species Bombycilla cedrorum
Length7 Inches
Wingspan11.625 Inches

Cedar Waxwing

Cedar Waxwing: Small waxwing, red-brown upperparts, pale slate-gray rump, buff underparts. Head is crested, has black mask with narrow white band below. Yellow-tipped tail, white undertail coverts. Wings have red wax-like tips on secondaries from which it gets its name. Black bill, legs and feet.

● Song: Call is thin, high-pitched warbled zeee or zeeet.

● Foraging & Feeding: Cedar Waxwing: Diet consists mostly of insects such as carpenter ants, cicadas, caterpillars, scale insects, and cankerworms; also feeds on berries, fruits, maple sap, and flowers. Sometimes becomes intoxicated from eating fermented berries in winter.

● Breeding & nesting: Cedar Waxwing: Two to six pale blue gray eggs spotted with brown and black are laid in a bulky cup nest of twigs and grass built in a tree. Incubation ranges from 12 to 16 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Cedar Waxwing: Bohemian Waxwing is larger with dark undertail coverts, gray belly, and red, white, and yellow wing markings.

Flight Pattern

Strong rapid flight with several quick wing strokes.
Cedar Waxwing Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Cedar Waxwing: Breeds from southeastern Alaska east to Newfoundland and south to California, Illinois, and Virginia. Spends winters from British Columbia, the Great Lakes region, and New England southward. Preferred habitats include open woodlands, orchards, and residential areas.
BreedingMonogamous, Colonial or solitary nester
PopulationFairly common to uncommon
MigrationMigratory
Weight1.1 Ounces
Perching-like BodyX
UnderpartsX
Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.
Undertail covertsX
Small feathers that cover the areas where the retrices (tail feathers) attach to the rump.
UpperpartsX
Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.
RumpX
The area between the uppertail coverts and the back of the bird.
SecondariesX
Flight feathers that are attached to the wing in the area similar to the human forearm and between the body and the primaries.
4 and 6 letter alpha codesX

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

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ITIS CodesX

The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) was established in the mid-1990�s as a cooperative project among several federal agencies to improve and expand upon taxonomic data (known as the NODC Taxonomic Code) maintained by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

To find the ITIS page for a bird species go to the ITIS web site advanced search and report page at http://www.itis.gov/advanced_search.html. You can enter the TSN or the common name of the bird. It will return the ITIS page for that bird. Another way to obtain the ITIS page is to use the Google search engine. Enter the string ITIS followed by the taxonomic ID, for example "ITIS 178041" will return the page for the Allen's Hummingbird.

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Parts of a Standing birdX
Head Feathers and MarkingsX
Parts of a Flying birdX