waxwing

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waxwing

bird

Also known as: Bombycilla

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

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Related Topics:: songbird; silky flycatcher; cedar waxwing; Bohemian waxwing

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Cedar waxwingsCedar waxwings (*Bombycilla cedrorum*)

waxwing, any of three species of birds belonging to the songbird family Bombycillidae (order Passeriformes). They are elegant-looking birds named for beads of shiny red material on the tips of the secondary wing feathers. All species are gray-brown, with tapering crest. The common, or Bohemian, waxwing (Bombycilla garrulus) is 20 cm (8 inches) long and has yellow and white wing markings in addition to red. It breeds in northern forests of Eurasia and America and every few years irrupts far southward in winter. The cedar waxwing (B. cedrorum), smaller and less colourful, breeds in Canada and the northern United States. Flocks of waxwings may invade city parks and gardens in winter, searching for berries.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Chelsey Parrott-Sheffer.