From Opus

Photo by Skean; North Andover, Massachusetts

Bombycilla cedrorum

[edit] Identification

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.

[edit] Similar Species

Bohemian Waxwing: Cedar Waxwing lacks the yellow and white markings on the wings.

[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^[1]

[edit] Habitat

Open woodlands, orchards, and residential areas.

[edit] Behaviour

Highly gregarious for much of the year.

[edit] Diet

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

[edit] Breeding

The 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, rather like Bohemian, but thinner and more quavering.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist.
2. Collins Field Guide 5th Edition

• List of references

[edit] External Links