Waxwing is a silky-feathered, grayish-brown bird that is larger than a sparrow, with a conspicuous crest or topknot. The waxwing has a band of yellow across the end of its tail. It has red, waxlike drops on its wing feathers.

The cedar waxwing is the best known of these birds. It lives in most parts of North America, as far north as central Canada and Labrador. These birds eat berries and fruits, and insects. They build bulky nests, usually in a fruit or shade tree. Many cedar waxwings are found on the islands of Lake Superior and around the lakes of Ontario and northern Minnesota in the summer. The birds cannot sing, but they produce a soft, high-pitched whistle. The female lays three to five eggs which are a pale bluish or purplish gray, speckled with black, brown, or purple.

The Bohemian waxwing is a slightly larger bird. It has yellow marks on its wings and reddish-brown undertail feathers. This bird lives in the northern latitudes of the world. In winter, the Bohemian waxwing appears in the northwestern and central northern United States and northern Europe. The Siberian waxwing lives in southeastern Siberia and Japan.

Scientific Classification. Waxwings belong to the waxwing family, Bombycillidae. The cedar waxwing is Bombycilla cedrorum; the Bohemian, B. garrulus, and the Siberian, B. japonica.