Cedar Waxwing
Whenever I used to see pictures of Cedar Waxwings online, I always thought: Wow, what a beautiful bird. The colors in their feathers blend so seamlessly that they look like paintings. Their name comes from the bit of red on their wings, which looks like it was dipped into red sealing wax.[1] However, I did not realize Cedar Waxwings could be found in Florida, so when I went outside one day and saw not one, not two, but a whole flock, I was thrilled. Apparently they can be found across the entire contiguous United States during different parts of the year.[2] Their range also covers a large part of Canada, all of Mexico, and several other countries in Central America. In Florida, you are most likely to find them in the winter in swamps, oak forests, and pine woods.[3] They like to fly in flocks.[4]
If you want to attract Cedar Waxwings to your own yard, the Cornell Lab recommends tapping into their true love: fruit.[2,5] Cedar Waxwings love fruit. They can eat only fruit for months.[2] They can eat them seeds and all. They can eat so many berries that, if the berries have begun to ferment, they can actually get drunk.[2] Sometimes they line up and pass berries to each other until someone finally eats it.[4,6] These birds love fruit. So, if you’re trying to attract these beautiful birds, planting fruiting trees (dogwood, winterberry, etc.) or putting fruit (cranberries, grapes, or blueberries, etc.) on a platform feeder may be a way to start.[1,2,5]
Because Cedar Waxwings love fruit, it’s no surprise that fruit plays a part when they start looking for love. To court, the birds cuddle up together and pass fruit and insects back and forth to each other.[4] When it's time to raise a family, the female crafts a cup-shaped nest in a tree. She uses grass and twigs and other plants for the frame, then lines the nest with gentler items like moss and hair.[4] A pair of Cedar Waxwings can have 2-6 eggs (bluish gray with speckles), which both parents incubate.[1,6]
When the babies are born, Cedar Waxwings briefly abandon their fruit cravings to hunt more insects.[1,4] This gives the babies some protein.[1] But, once those first few days are up, fruit is back on the menu. They are one of the few birds to feed fruit to their young. When the young birds are roughly 2-2.5 weeks old, they leave the nest.[1]
I for one loved sitting and watching this flock of Cedar Waxwings feed and fly. They were enchanting. Apparently, I am not the only one who thinks so. In 1924, a bird bander was brought a Cedar Waxwing who was unable to fly.[7] She ended up taking care of it for a while, calling it Cede and observing its eating habits and behaviors. She noted, “In the matter of general intelligence and companionableness, in keenness of eye and ear, in quick responsiveness to all that went on about him, this Cedarbird seemed to us greatly to excell any other small bird we had ever known.”
The Details:
Common Name: Cedar Waxwing
Scientific Name: Bombycilla cedrorum
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Bombycillidae
Seen: In a tree and on the ground, eating fruit.
Month: March '25
Range: Throughout the contiguous United States, at different times of the year.[2] It can also be found in parts of Canada, throughout Mexico, and in other parts of Central America.
Learn More About Cedar Waxwings:
- Missouri Department of Conservation. (n.d.) Cedar Waxwing.
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology. (n.d.) Cedar Waxwing: Overview. All About Birds.
- Pranty, B. (1996). A birder's guide to Florida. American Birding Association.
- Audubon. (n.d.). Cedar Waxwing. [Note: The page says it is adapted from Lives of North American Birds by Kenn Kaufman]
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Common feeder birds. Project FeederWatch.
- Alsop, F. J., III. (2002). Birds of Florida. DK Publishing.
- Whittle, H. G. (1928). The biography of a Cedar Waxwing. Bulletin of the Northeastern Bird-Banding Association, 4(3), 77-85.
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