ODNR Division of Wildlife - A to Z Species Guide - Cedar Waxwing

Cedar Waxwing

cedar waxwing

Cedar waxwings are nomadic and very social birds that travel in flocks. These flocks move from place to place throughout the year, except during the breeding season. Waxwings are big fruit consumers, and nomadic flocks often visit ornamental berry trees. They have a habit of passing berries from one bird to the next down a long row sitting on a branch, until one bird eats the food.

Listen

Cedar Waxwing

Bombycilla cedrorum

At-a-Glance

• Peak Breeding Activity: Spring and early summer

• Incubation: 11-13 days

• Clutch Size: 2-5 eggs

• Young Fledge: 14-18 days after hatching

• Typical Foods: fruit and insects

Description
The cedar waxwing is a sleek, crested, brown bird with waxy red tips on its secondary wing feathers and a yellow band at the tip of its tail.

Habitat and Habits
Breeders prefer riparian woodlands. Their calls are so high-pitched that people with high frequency hearing loss can't hear them. They emit soft, quiet whistled tsee-tsee-tsee sounds. Knowing this call will produce many more waxwings, as traveling flocks constantly vocalize as they pass overhead.

Reproduction and Care of the Young
A bulky cup of twigs and grass is built in a tree in the open, where a pair may raise one or two broods in a season. During incubation, the male brings food to the female. Both parents provide food to the chicks during the hatchling stage and for up to 10 days after the chicks fledge.