Fascinating Facts about..
Waxwings
Scientific name: Bombycilla garrulous
The waxwing is a plump bird, and is slightly smaller than a starling.
It does not breed in the UK, but is a winter visitor (March to October), some years in large numbers, called “irruptions”.
Irruptions occur when the breeding ground population becomes too big for the food available. The winter of 2004/5 saw just such an irruption.
Waxwings normally live in the dense northern forests of Russia and Scandinavia, which have lichen-covered pines.
In winter they can be seen in parks and gardens where there are berry-bearing trees and bushes.
The berries they prefer are rowan, hawthorn, cotoneaster and rosehips.
Feeding is often a mating ritual: a male will offer a berry to a female who will accept, hop away and then return to offer it back to the male.
The bird derives its name from the unusual waxy looking red tips to its upper flight feathers.
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