Waxwing (Bombycilla garrulus)The waxwing is a plump bird, which is slightly smaller than a starling. It has a prominent crest. It is reddish-brown with a black throat, a small black mask round its eye, yellow and white in the wings and a yellow-tipped tail. It does not breed in the UK, but is a winter visitor, in some years in larger numbers, called irruptions, when the population on its breeding grounds gets too big for the food available.
Key ID Features:
The pale pinkish body gives way to a pale grey lower back and rump in the male, which also sports a rusty red undertail and waxy red spots on the wings.
The yellow tipped tail is complimented by yellow stripe along closed wingtips, thicker in the male.
the most striking feature is the head which has a dark bib below the short bill and a dark eye mask under a large buff crest.
Overview
Scientific name: Bombycilla garrulus
Family: Waxwings (Bombycillidae)
Where to see them:
The first British arrivals each winter are usually seen on the east coast from Scotland to East Anglia, but birds move inland in search of food, increasing the chances of seeing one inland.
Seen in UK:
October to March.
What they eat
Berries, particularly rowan and hawthorn, but also cotoneaster and rose.
Text (c) RSPB, used with permission
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Photographer: Tim Tapley
