Waxwing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Bombycillidae
Genus: Bombycilla

[Photo] Bohemian Waxwings (Bombycilla garrulus); Deutsch: Seidenschwanz; Polski: Jemiołuszka; 日本語: キレンジャク. Source: from the book Naumann, Naturgeschichte der V??gel Mitteleuropas (Natural history of the birds of central Europe) of 1905. URL: www.biologie.uni-hamburg.de/b-online/birds/2180_20.htm

For the band featuring Rocky Votolato, see Waxwing (band).

The waxwings are a group of passerine birds characterised by soft silky plumage and unique red tips to some of the wing feathers. In the Bohemian and Cedar Waxwings, these tips look like sealing wax, and give the group its name.

These are arboreal birds of northern forests. They live on insects in summer and berries in winter.

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 erupt well beyond their normal range.

Some authorities (including the Sibley-Monroe checklist) place the silky-flycatchers, and the Hypocolius, in family Bombycillidae along with the waxwings.

The male and female have the same plumage and cannot be identified by plumage differences.

Species
- Bohemian Waxwing, Bombycilla garrulus
- Japanese Waxwing, Bombycilla japonica
- Cedar Waxwing, Bombycilla cedrorum

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waxwing

The text in this page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article shown in above URL. It is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.