Waxwing (original) (raw)

This is a group of passerine birds characterised by soft silky plumage and unique coloured tips to some of the wing feathers. These look like sealing wax, and give the group its name.

These are arboreal birds of northern forests. They live on insects in summer and berries in winter.

They are not true long-distance migrants, but move south from their summer range in winter. In poor berry years huge numbers can erupt well beyond their normal range.

• Bohemian Waxwing Bombycilla garrulus
• Japanese Waxwing B. japonica
• Cedar Waxwing B. cedrorum

Some authorities (including the Sibley-Monroe checklist) place the silky-flycatchers, and the Hypocolius, in family Bobmycillidae along with the waxwings.