BROWN BIRDS SEEN IN NORTH AMERICA

Cedar Waxwing

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Bombycilla Cedrorum

Cedar Waxwing

Adults have buffy-brown head, breast and back. The brown color turns to pale yellow on belly, to gray-brown on back, and to slate-gray on rump and uppertail coverts. Tail is barred yellow. Undertail feathers are white. Legs and feet are black.

There is a black mask bordered with white, extending from the lores to the rear of the eyes where it ends into a point. Chin is black. Secondary feathers are tipped-red, as just dipped into red wax or paint.

Juveniles have streaked throat, breast and flanks. Belly and undertail coverts are dull white or yellow. On the head, there is a restricted black mask, and more white on the cheeks and the rear of the eyes.

BILL: short and broad.

SIZE: measures about 5.51 - 6.69 inches in length, with a wingspan of 8.66 - 11.81 inches.

WEIGHT: weighs about 32 grams.

COLOR: buffy-brown, brown, pale yellow, gray-brown, black and white.

Berries, insects and small fruits.

Open woodlands, fallow lands, farmlands, dump and urban gardens.

BREEDS: Southwards in Maryland and Virginia, and in mountains, from southern to northern Georgia, from the northern United States to northern California.

SUMMER: Southern Canada, from south-east Alaska and northern British Colombia to centre Ontario, and southern Quebec.

CALL: A high-pitched, trilled "bzeee" and a sighing whistle, about a half-second long, often rising in pitch at the beginning.

They call often, especially in flight.

NEST: The male and female build a bulky cup-shaped nest with bark, leaves, grass, rootlets, moss and sometimes mud. It is lined with soft materials.

EGGS: 3 - 5 grayish-blue eggs, spotted brown or black on the largest side.

INCUBATION: 12 - 14 days, female fed by the male.

NESTLING PHASE: 14 - 18 days.