Cedar Waxwing
Bombycilla cedrorum
Bombycillidae
The most elegant songbird in New Jersey — soft fawn-brown grading into gray, a sleek black mask, brilliant yellow tail tip, and tiny red drops of waxy secretion on the wing feathers that give the bird its name. Waxwings roam nomadically in tight flocks following ripening fruit.
How to spot one.
6–7 inches, sleek and pointed shape
Soft fawn-brown fading to pale yellow belly
Prominent crest
Black mask edged in white
Vivid yellow tail tip; small red wax droplets on wing tips (adults)
What it sounds like.
Very high, thin, whistled 'seee' — often the giveaway that a flock is in the treetops nearby.
How it lives.
Highly social. Travels in tight flocks of a dozen to a hundred. Waxwings can get intoxicated on fermenting berries — they'll fly into windows on a warm February day if they've overindulged on old crabapples. Also uniquely tolerant of eating whole berries (they can pass hard seeds and pits intact).
The spec sheet.
- Status
- Year-round resident
- Size
- 6–7 inches
- Present in NJ
- Year-round
- Native to NJ
- Yes
- Conservation status
- stable
- Family
- Bombycillidae
What it eats.
Diet often shifts dramatically between breeding season and the rest of the year — especially for insectivorous birds that pivot to native berries in fall and winter.
Summer / breeding season
Native berries as they ripen (serviceberry, mulberry, cherry)
Some flying insects (fly-catching over ponds)
Petals of some flowers
Fall / winter
Eastern Red Cedar berries (namesake food)
American Holly, winterberry, hawthorn
Crabapples
Serviceberry, dogwood, viburnum
What it needs.
Native plants that feed this bird or provide shelter. Names in hydrangea link to the plant’s Field Guide entry.
Fruit / berry source
Eastern Red Cedar
Fruit / berry source
American Holly, Winterberry
Fruit / berry source
Hawthorn (Crataegus)
Fruit / berry source
Fruit / berry source
Native dogwoods
Fruit / berry source
Summersweet NJ · Audubon · Ernst Seed
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