Cedar Waxwing’s have a beautiful high pitched song. If you have ever heard one you will not forget them. They have a distinctive gray brown coloring and yellowing bellies with a rather large fat bodies. They like company and usually if not always travel in large flocks. If you hear their high trilling call you probably have then in your area. They love berries and flying insects that they catch while darting over bodies of water or large open areas.

With your binoculars take some time and look for general markings and characteristics, things that you notice right off. Do not spend a lot of time trying to memorize different aspects of the Cedar Waxwing. Just look for general information and then you will be able to quickly recognize what group these birds belong to by noticing size, general shape, colors and their behavior.

I suggest that you keep a note book of these characteristics. You can add to it from time to time. This will help you understand and learn. But be patient and note things only one at a time. Otherwise you may get tired and discouraged because you can’t remember everything at once. It will all come in time as you watch these birds. Also take a look at the field marks such as a wingbar and eyering markings to tie some IDs down.

Please remember also to note what time of year you see them as well as other kinds of birds you see in your neighborhood. Then you will be able to keep track of them better next year when the return.

A good field book on birds will help, but do not try to memorize everything in it all at once. Just learn about your specific bird of interest.

Cedar Waxwing

Size & Shape

A sleek beautiful songbird with a swept-back crest, plump rather fat body and square-tipped tail

Color Pattern

They are Silky gray-brown, with yellow belly and red and yellow accents on wings and tail

Behavior

These like to fly in large flocks, eating berries or catching insects over open water, giving high trilling call

Habitat

Woodlands, orchards, parks, and thick suburbs so they can hide