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Cedar Waxwing
Stats
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Eats
The majority of the annual diet of cedar waxwings is berries and small fruits, including juniper berries, dogwood berries, and wild cherries. They also eat some flowers and will drink oozing sap from trees and plants. In summer, they become more specialized to eating insects like beetles, caterpillars, and ants.
Lives
Cedar waxwings are found throughout most of North America. A migratory species, they breed in the Northern US and Canada and spend winter in the US, Mexico, Central America, parts of the Caribbean, and the northern edge of South America. They inhabit deciduous, coniferous, and mixed woodlands, particularly areas along streams. You may also find them in old fields, grasslands, sagebrush, and even along desert washes.
Behavior
Cedar waxwings are diurnal, finding berries by sight. The wax on their wings is dependent on the colors of the berries they eat, so if they are eating orange berries, their typical red tips on their wings, will become more orange! Like many other birds found in temperate regions, they migrate seasonally and are found in large flocks. They are social and nest in loose clusters of up to twelve.
Description
Cedar waxwings are small, gray-brown songbirds with crested heads, black masks with a white edge, and distinctive red, waxy tips on their wing feathers. This wax helps them to signal their age and status within the flock, with those with a higher status and older having longer tips. The tips of their tail feathers are a bright yellow or orange color and the belly of an adult is pale yellow.
Did you Know?
If there is a large supply of berries at the end of a twig, a flock of cedar waxwings lines up along a branch and passes berries down the line so that each bird gets some.
How can I Help?
Planting native species like eastern red cedar, winterberry, or wild cherry can provide cedar waxwings with a stable food source. All yard birds also benefit from bird proofing windows and keeping cats indoors.
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