Waxwing
Waxwings | |
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Bohemian waxwing (Bombycilla garrulus) | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Superfamily: | Bombycilloidea |
Family: | Bombycillidae Swainson, 1831 |
Genus: | Bombycilla Vieillot, 1808 |
Type species | |
Bombycilla cedrorum | |
Species | |
The waxwings are three species of
Waxwings are not long-distance migrants, but move nomadically outside the breeding season. Waxwings mostly feed on fruit, but at times of year when fruits are unavailable they feed on sap, buds, flowers and insects. They catch insects by gleaning through foliage or in mid-air. They often nest near water, the female building a loose nest at the fork of a branch, well away from the trunk of the tree. She also incubates the eggs, the male bringing her food to the nest, and both sexes help rear the young. Waxwings appear in art and have been mentioned in literature.
Etymology
Bombycilla, the genus name, is Vieillot's attempt at Latin for "silktail", translating the German name Seidenschwänze. Vieillot analyzed motacilla, Latin for wagtail, as mota for "move" and cilla, which he thought meant "tail"; however, Motacilla actually combines motacis, a mover, with the diminutive suffix -illa. He then combined this "cilla" with the Latin bombyx, meaning silk.[1]
Description
Waxwings are characterised by soft silky plumage. They have unique red tips to some of the wing feathers where the shafts extend beyond the barbs; in the Bohemian and cedar waxwings, these tips look like sealing wax, and give the group its common name.[1] The legs are short and strong, and the wings are pointed. The male and female have the same plumage. All three species have mainly brown plumage, a black line through the eye and black under the chin, a square-ended tail with a red or yellow tip, and a pointed crest. The bill, eyes, and feet are dark. The adults moult between August and November, but may suspend their moult and continue after migration.[2] Calls are high-pitched, buzzing or trilling monosyllables.[3][4]
Behavior
Diet
These are arboreal birds that breed in northern forests.
Reproduction
Waxwings also choose nest sites in places with rich supplies of fruit and breed late in the year to take advantage of summer ripening. However, they may start courting as early as the winter. Pairing includes a ritual in which mates pass a fruit or small inedible object back and forth several times until one eats it (if it is a fruit). After this they may copulate. Many pairs may nest close together in places with good food supplies, and a pair does not defend a territory—perhaps the reason waxwings have no true
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Cedar waxwing pair passing a berry back and forth during courtship
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Cedar waxwing nest and eggs
Migration
They are not true long-distance migrants, but wander erratically outside the breeding season and move south from their summer range in winter. In poor berry years huge numbers can irrupt well beyond their normal range, often in flocks that on occasion number in the thousands.[5] A flock arrived in rural Derbyshire, England during January 2024, feeding on berries.[6]
Taxonomy
Some authorities (including the Sibley-Monroe checklist) place some other genera in the family Bombycillidae along with the waxwings. Birds that are sometimes classified in this way include the
Species
Image | Name | Distribution |
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Linnaeus , 1758) |
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Japanese waxwing, B. japonica (Siebold, 1824) | Japan, Korea, Russian Far East and in Heilongjiang province, north-east China | |
Cedar waxwing, B. cedrorum Vieillot, 1808 |
References
- ^ ISBN 0-88192-600-0. Retrieved 2009-04-29.
- ISBN 978-1-4729-0647-2.
- ^ ISBN 0-19-854940-7.
- ISBN 0-679-45122-6.
- ^ ISBN 1-55297-777-3.
- ^ Hassop: Hundreds of 'exquisite' waxwings in the Peak District BBC News , 11 January 2024. Retrieved 12 January 2024
- PMID 18824237.
External links
- Media related to Bombycilla at Wikimedia Commons
- Data related to Waxwing at Wikispecies
- Waxwing videos on the Internet Bird Collection