Cedar waxwing
Bombycilla cedrorum Vieillot, 1808
The cedar waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) is a species in the family Bombycillidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 30.7 g to 33 g and live up to 7.6 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the cedar waxwing
- Weight
- 30.7 g – 33 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 7.6 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Frugivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 12.7 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- woodlandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 14 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 12 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1.9src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the cedar waxwing live?
Not recorded
What is the cedar waxwing?
The cedar waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) 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” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cedar_waxwing&oldid=1384689386), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the cedar waxwing sound like?
Is the cedar waxwing endangered?
The cedar waxwing is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the cedar waxwing classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyBombycillidae
- genusBombycilla
- SpeciesBombycilla cedrorum Vieillot, 1808
Synonyms Ampelis americana, Ampelis cedrorum, Bombycilla americana, Bombycilla americana, Bombycilla carolinensis, Bombycilla carolinensis, Bombycilla cedorum, Bombycilla cedrorum aquilonia, Bombycilla cedrorum cedrorum, Bombycilla cedrorum larifuga, Bombycilla mariae, Garrulus americanus, Garrulus americanus minor, Garrulus minor
Other names and names in other languages (61)
- American waxwingEnglish
- Cedar birdEnglish
- Cherry-birdEnglish
- Juniper waxwingEnglish
- شمعي الجناح الأرزيArabic
- Amerika ardıcquşuAzerbaijani
- Кедрова копринаркаBulgarian
- simitsiimSiksiká
- ocell sedós americàCatalan
- ᎤᏃᏴCherokee
- Кедр шӑлин курӑсӗChuvash
- brkoslav americkýCzech
- Cynffon Sidan y CedrwyddWelsh
- CedersilkehaleDanish
- Amerikansk silkehaleDanish
- ZedernseidenschwanzGerman
- Καναδέζικη ΒομβυκίλλαGreek
- amerika bombiciloEsperanto
- ChinitoSpanish
- Ampelis americanoSpanish
- Ampelis chinitoSpanish
- Cigua Alas de CeraSpanish
- Jilguero ChinoSpanish
- ameerika siidisabaEstonian
- باللاکی سدریPersian
- amerikantilhiFinnish
- Jaseur d'AmériqueFrench
- Jaseur d’AmériqueFrench
- jaseur des cèdresFrench
- Síodéan céadraisIrish
- ציצנית אמריקניתHebrew
- cédruscsonttollúHungarian
- SedrustoppaIcelandic
- beccofrusone americanoItalian
- Beccofrusone dei cedriItalian
- ヒメレンジャクJapanese
- kedrinis svirbelisLithuanian
- ciedru zīdasteLatvian
- Америка цӹлдӹрWestern Mari
- CederpestvogelDutch
- einersidensvansNorwegian
- Para di SederPapiamento
- Parha di CedroPapiamento
- jemiołuszka cedrowaPolish
- tagarela-americanoPortuguese
- picoteiro-americanoPortuguese
- Кедровый свиристельRussian
- Американский свиристельRussian
- AmerihkábealljerásttisNorthern Sami
- chochláč americkýSlovak
- ameriški pegamSlovenian
- Američka kugaraSerbian
- tujasidensvansSwedish
- IndiansidensvansSwedish
- Ardıç ipekkuyruğuTurkish
- Sedir İpekkuyruğuTurkish
- Кедровий омелюхUkrainian
- омелюх американськийUkrainian
- 雪松太平鳥Chinese
- 雪松太平鳥〔黃腹太平鳥〕Chinese
- 雪松太平鸟Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the cedar waxwing
Other species in the same genus Bombycilla.
Bohemian waxwing
Bombycilla garrulus
Japanese waxwing
Bombycilla japonica
CompareCedar waxwing vs Bohemian waxwingCedar waxwing vs Japanese waxwingCedar waxwing vs Bombycilla glandarius
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the cedar waxwing?
An adult cedar waxwing weighs 30.7 g – 33 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the cedar waxwing endangered?
The cedar waxwing is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
How long does the cedar waxwing live?
The cedar waxwing has a recorded lifespan of 7.6 years.
What kind of animal is the cedar waxwing?
The cedar waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) belongs to the family Bombycillidae in the order Passeriformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Cedar waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/cedar-waxwing
“Cedar waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/cedar-waxwing.
@misc{cedar_waxwing_2026,
title = {Cedar waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/cedar-waxwing},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}