Cedar Waxwing

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Last Updated: July 11, 2022

Cedar Waxwings are fruit specialists and they eat a wide variety of fruits like cedar berries, crabapples, hawthorn berries, jumpier berries and raspberries, just to name a few.  Fruit forms the majority of their diet, and if they consume too much fruit that has become fermented and started to produce alcohol, these birds can become intoxicated.  During the summer, Cedar Waxwings supplement their diet with protein-rich insects, which they can pluck from vegetation or catch in the air.

These shiny, sleek, medium-sized birds with short, square-tipped tails, have brown heads, a black face mask, light yellow bellies, and broad pointed wings.  They are very social and can form large flocks that roam mixed woodlands, orchards, city parks and gardens wherever fruit is plentiful.  Females select the nest site and do most of the nest construction, using fine grasses, horsehair and other materials.  She lays 2-6 eggs and the pair can raise 1-2 broods in a season.  Incubation takes 11-13 days and the young are in the nest for 14-18 days.  Cedar Waxwings are year-round residents in Washington.