Cedar Waxwing

Description:

Cedar Waxwings are sleek, masked birds with unusual red, waxy deposits at the tips of their secondary feathers. They are cinnamon-colored, with grayish wings and tails and yellow terminal tail-bands. They have distinctive crested heads, black throats, and black masks lined with white. Their bellies have a yellowish tinge, and their undertail coverts are white. Juveniles are mottled gray-brown, and have black masks and yellow tail-bands. The red feather-tips increase in number and size as the birds age.

Habitat:

Spotted in a tree at the edge of a wetland at the Tolt River-John MacDonald Park. Cedar Waxwings inhabit open, lowland woodlands with shrubs and small trees, especially when berry-producing shrubs are present. They are often found in streamside woods and avoid the forest interior. They are common in forest clearings, wetlands, edges, residential areas, orchards, and stands of Russian olive.

Notes:

This flock of about seven birds flew into the tree just as I was taking pics of another bird. Cedar Waxwings are nomadic and irruptive, and wander in search of food sources, rather than undertake a typical migration. Fruit availability may be a more important predictor of winter presence than temperature or latitude. Most populations do move south for the winter, but some Washington breeders may be year-round residents.