Cedar Waxwing: how to recognise it
A bird of North America and South America. Learn the marks that make it easy to identify, then practise with real photographs in Lore.
Practise with real photosAll species guides
Photo © Manny Salas · CC BY-NC · iNaturalist · all photo credits
- Scientific name
- Bombycilla cedrorum
- Family
- Waxwings
- Size
- About 17 cm
- Habitat
- Orchards and berry shrubs
- Found in
- North America and South America
The key marks
A smooth brown crest with a black mask, a yellow tail tip and red waxy wing tips. Bohemian Waxwing is larger, grey, with white and yellow wing marks.
Voice
A high, thin trill.
Good to know
It eats fruit and berries, often in flocks.
Do not confuse with
Compare it with the Bohemian Waxwing. Look at the marks above one by one rather than the overall colour, and practise telling the two apart with real photos.
Where and when
You can expect to find it in orchards and berry shrubs. It is especially common in Canada. Distribution changes with the seasons and from year to year, so check a recent local observation source before you go looking.