Cedar Waxwing

Bombycilla cedrorum

Summary 5

The Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) is a medium sized, with a light brown body and crest, yellow flanks, black face mask, and red waxy-tipped feathers on the wings. Male and female Cedar Waxwings are similar at all seasons.

To hear examples of sounds from Cedar Waxwings: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Cedar_Waxwing/sounds

Where on Campus 6

Cedar Waxwings can be seen primarily in the Fall and Winter on campus in small flocks in the trees in both the interior plazas as well as the perimeter of campus.

Habitat 6

Cedar Waxwings can be found in woodlands, orchards and gardens as long as there are fruiting trees or shrubs for them to forage in.

Life History 6

Nesting Females build the nests of twigs, grasses and similar material and sometimes take materials from the nests of other birds. Nests are built in the fork of a horizontal branch.

Feeding Cedar Waxwings are primarily fruit eaters. Interestingly, there are one of the few bird species that can survive on only fruit for months at a time. They will also supplement their diet with invertebrates, including those that are caught on the wing.

Distribution 6

Cedar Waxwings are native to North and Central America, breeding in open wooded areas in southern Canada and wintering in the southern half of the United States, Central America, and the far northwest of South America.

Migration 6

Cedar Waxwings are migratory and primarily breed in the northern United States and Canada and Winter in the U.S. and Central America.

Sources and Credits

  1. (c) Robert, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.flickr.com/photos/44055945@N06/5512560241
  2. (c) Earlbert, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/2011-08-16_Rollins_Savanna_5.jpg
  3. (c) David Mitchell, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Bombycilla_cedrorum_-perching_on_a_branch-8.jpg
  4. (c) Ingrid Taylar from San Francisco Bay Area - California, USA, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Lunch_for_the_Waxwing.jpg
  5. Adapted by gillian360 from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombycilla_cedrorum
  6. (c) gillian360, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)

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