From Opus

Photo by Skean; North Andover, Massachusetts

Bombycilla cedrorum

[edit] Identification

Length 6 1/2-8" (17-20 cm). A sleek, crested, brown bird with black mask, yellow tips on tail feathers, and hard red wax-like tips on secondary wing feathers. Almost always seen in flocks.

[edit] Distribution

Breeds from southeastern Alaska east to Newfoundland and south to California, Illinois, and Virginia. Winters from British Columbia, Great Lakes region, and New England southward to the Caribbean and northern South America.

[edit] Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species

[edit] Habitat

Open woodlands, orchards, and residential areas.

[edit] Behaviour

Waxwings spend most of the year in flocks.

The diet includes berries and fruits, with insects in the summer.

Nesting: 4-6 blue-grey eggs, spotted with dark brown and black, are laid in a bulky cup of twigs and grass placed in a tree in the open.

[edit] Vocalisation

Voice is a thin lisp, tseee.

[edit] External Links