Cedar waxwing
Scientific name: Bombycilla cedrorum Vieillot, 1808
Overview
The cedar waxwing is a member of the family Bombycillidae or waxwing family of passerine birds. It is a medium-sized bird that is mainly brown, gray, and yellow. Some of the wing feathers have red tips, which resemble sealing wax, giving the bird its common name. It is a native of North and Central America, breeding in open wooded areas in southern Canada and wintering in the southern half of the United States, Central America, and the far northwest of South America. Its diet includes cedar cones, fruit, holly berries, and insects. The cedar waxwing is listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List.
From the Wikipedia article “Cedar waxwing”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Conservation status
Least concern on the IUCN Red List, as recorded on Wikidata, citing The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021.3.
Where it lives
The Catalogue of Life records it in: Caribbean; Middle America; North America; South America.
Common names
Names in other languages (9)
- Chinese
- 雪松太平鸟
- French
- Jaseur d'Amérique
- German
- Zedernseidenschwanz
- Indonesian
- Sayap lak aras
- Japanese
- ヒメレンジャク
- Persian
- باللاکی سدری
- Portuguese
- picoteiro-americano, tagarela-americano
- Russian
- Американский свиристель
- Spanish
- Ampelis americano, Ampelis chinito
Related animals
Sources
-
Catalogue of Life — scientific name, classification, common names and range.
Version 2026-09-11, CC BY 4.0.
This species in the Catalogue of Life.
Citation
Bánki, O., Roskov, Y., Döring, M., Ower, G., Hernández Robles, D. R., Plata Corredor, C. A., Stjernegaard Jeppesen, T., Örn, A., Pape, T., Hobern, D., Garnett, S., Little, H., DeWalt, R. E., Miller, J., Orrell, T., Aalbu, R., Abbott, J., Aedo, C., Aescht, E., et al. (2026). Catalogue of Life (Version 2026-09-11). Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgz5n Source database: The Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
- GBIF — species page and recorded occurrences.
- Wikidata — conservation status, names in other languages. Q184314, CC0 1.0.
- Wikipedia — overview, from the article “Cedar waxwing”, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Photo — Jason Quinn, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. File page.
- Range map — Cephas, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. File page.
Last updated: 4 October 2026