Cedar Waxwing
Bombycilla cedrorum
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderPasseriformes (Perching Birds)
- FamilyBombycillidae (Waxwings)
- GenusBombycilla (Waxwings)
- SpeciesBombycilla cedrorum (Cedar Waxwing)
About the Cedar Waxwing
The cedar waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) is a member of the family Bombycillidae or waxwing family of passerine birds. It is a medium-sized bird that is mainly brown, gray, and yellow. Some of the wing feathers have red tips, which resemble sealing wax, giving the bird its common name. It is a native of North and Central America, breeding in open wooded areas in southern Canada and wintering in the southern half of the United States, Central America, and the far northwest of South America. Its diet includes cedar cones, fruit, holly berries, and insects. The cedar waxwing is listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List.
The three species of waxwings were moved to their own genus, Bombycilla, by Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1808. Bombycilla is Vieillot's attempt at Latin for "silktail", translating the German name Seidenschwänze. Vieillot thought that motacilla, Latin for wagtails, was derived from 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. The specific epithet cedrorum is Latin for "of the cedars".
��2�... Wikipedia →
Closest Relatives at Chagres National Park
Crimson-backed Tanager
Ramphocelus dimidiatus
Blue-gray Tanager
Thraupis episcopus
Golden-hooded Tanager
Stilpnia larvata
Clay-colored Thrush
Turdus grayi
Bay-headed Tanager
Tangara gyrola
Yellow-faced Grassquit
Tiaris olivaceus
Palm Tanager
Thraupis palmarum
Hepatic Tanager
Piranga flava
Southern House Wren
Troglodytes musculus
Thick-billed Euphonia
Euphonia laniirostris
Plain-colored Tanager
Tangara inornata
Green Honeycreeper
Chlorophanes spiza
Global Distribution
Warmer areas are where this animal is recorded most often.