Birds and wildlife

Waxwing

Bombycilla garrulusGroup: waxwingsUK Conservation status:Green

How to identify

The Waxwing is a plump bird, which is slightly smaller than a Starling. It has a prominent crest (head feathers that stick up). It's reddish-brown with a black throat, a small black mask around 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, we see larger numbers of visiting Waxwings, called irruptions, when the population in their breeding grounds gets too big for the food available.

Call

Waxwing

Patrik Åberg / xeno-canto

Key

  1. Resident
  2. Passage
  3. Summer
  4. Winter
* This map is intended as a guide. It shows general distribution rather than detailed, localised populations.
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec

Key facts