Cedar Waxwing

Bombycilla cedrorum

Shares berries with friends and messages with strangers. Polite to a fault.

Population: ~64 million mature individuals (increasing)
Habitat: Open woodlands, forest edges, orchards, and shrubby areas near rivers and ponds, especially where fruiting trees and shrubs (cedars, hawthorns, honeysuckle) are abundant; also common in suburban yards and parks with berry-producing plants
Fun fact: Cedar Waxwings get the red, wax-like tips on their secondary wing feathers from carotenoid pigments in the berries they eat, and birds that feed on the berries of introduced Morrow's honeysuckle can grow orange rather than yellow tail-band tips.
Range: Breeds across southern Canada and the northern/central United States; winters from the southern US through Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean into northern South America; occasional vagrant as far as Iceland and the UK
Diet: Primarily fruit (especially berries) year-round, one of the few North American birds able to survive on fruit alone for months; supplements with flying insects caught on the wing, especially during breeding season
Size: 0.16 m
Wingspan: 0.27 m
Lifespan: 7 years

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