Cedar Waxwing vs Bohemian Waxwing
By Charlie • February 6, 2008 • 27 commentsLast year Mike wrote a superb and typically lyrical post asking “What is a Waxwing?“. I’m not going to even attempt to equal his phrasing by covering the same ground he went over so eloquently - if you haven’t read his post yet click the link you’ve just hurried past immediately - but I do want to post a few photos highlighting the differences between the Bohemian Waxwing Bombycilla garrulus (which is distributed across the northern hemisphere’s boreal zone from Alaska to Siberia) and its more range-restricted American cousin the Cedar Waxwing Bombycilla cedrorum (which breeds from Canada south to California with wanderers [and Waxwings are good at wandering] making it into Central America).
Cedar Waxwings
Bohemian Waxwings
Before I’d had a chance to see both species well I’d always thought that apart from some obvious plumage differences - most notably a Bohemian’s chestnut undertail coverts vs. a Cedar’s white - they were essentially pretty much very similar species. In fact, as many birders will concur, while they both share red “waxy” blobs on the secondaries (as adults), a yellow-tipped tail, brownish plumage, shaggy crests and dark “bandit” masks they can be quickly separated on structure alone. Bohemian always appears to be a chunky, Starling-like bird with a distinctively ’solid’ silhouette, whilst the Cedar is much slimmer with a longer tail giving it a surprisingly finch-like profile (I used to regularly overlook Cedars at the tops of trees on my first encounters with them as I was looking for a much heavier bird).
Cedar Waxwings
Bohemian Waxwings
Looking at the underparts of these two species of waxwings - and the usual view is from beneath looking up! - note the dark, chestnut colour of the Bohemian’s vent compared with the snowy-white vent of the Cedar: a feature that can be seen even when the waxwings are feeding or perching right up at the top of a tree. Note also that the Bohemian’s breast and belly are all one colour, whilst the Cedar has a distinctively yellowish wash to the belly.
Cedar Waxwing
Bohemian Waxwing
Looking in slightly more detail at the plumage differences one of the most striking has to be the vivid colours of a Bohemian’s wings which are beautifully marked with golden-yellow and white vs the virtually unmarked wings of the Cedar.
Cedar Waxwing
Bohemian Waxwing
Cedar Waxwing
Bohemian Waxwing
Two more plumage features that birders wanting to identify partly-hidden waxwings should look for are 1) the very extensive dark throat of the Bohemian Waxwing (much more restricted in the Cedar), and 2) the rather more subtle - but nonetheless reliable - white upper border to a Cedar’s ‘mask’ (which is entirely lacking in Bohemian).
For more information on waxwings have a look at www.wordwiz72.com/waxwing.html
Waxwings and Allies Family Bombycillidae
- Bohemian Waxwing Bombycilla garrulus
- Japanese Waxwing Bombycilla japonica
- Cedar Waxwing Bombycilla cedrorum
- Black-and-yellow Phainoptila Phainoptila melanoxantha
- Grey Silky-flycatcher Ptilogonys cinereus
- Long-tailed Silky-flycatcher Ptilogonys caudatus
- Phainopepla Phainopepla nitens
- Hypocolius Hypocolius ampelinus
All photographs copyright Charlie Moores 2008
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These are all such amazing photos! WOW
Nice Pics.
Just saw my first Bohemian waxwing here in Connecticut.
There was so much snow in Canada the berries are late so they migrated here this year. Nice of them to come to my work and eat from the tree behind my building. Was very pleased to see them
Doreen
I just saw my first Bohemian waxwing here in Duluth, MN. Thanks for the great pictures I was able to make 100% sure it was in fact a Bohemian.
Brandon: That’s great. Thanks for letting me know and glad to have been of help!
Excellent photos and fantastic discussion of how to tell the species apart. Has been a great help to me and many of my friends. The field guides just don’t point out the differences like this webpage - now it’s obvious. Thanks so much!
Georgie - thanks very much for the compliments and you’re very welcome!
thank you for these pictures it helped me alot today I had 1 on my pole taking my dryer sheets I had on the pole they must be using them for a nest.I had no idea what this bird was until now.I’m from milwaukee wi
Randy, you’re welcome. Glad they helped.
These are pretty birds to look at, but ready to see them leave. I have a huge flock of Bohemians that won’t leave my cherry trees alone. The just about wiped them clean out. This is the first time ever seeing them. Any suggestions to keep them from returning. Waterford, MI
I saw some Cedar Waxwings for the first time two months in one of my backyard trees. They are beautiful to look at and fun to watch with binoculars. What struck me was the waxy tips on their wings and their black “bandit masks.” I hope to see some more waxwings in the future and hope that they return to my backyard one day. Your photos are awesome, not to mention cute!
Hi Melissa, they are wonderful birds aren’t they. Glad you enjoyed the photos! Charlie
Gorgeous pictures, how about some baby photos for identification? We are taking care of one from Hurricane Bill and think it will be a waxwing, but not entirely sure.
Thank you!
Hi Bird Lovers - I’d post photos of young birds if I had any! Sadly though I don’t (please send me one if you have any). I’m not sure where you live but Bohemians breed way north (amd mainly in the west) of North America. The Cedar is far more widespread, and unless you live in Alaska I’d be fairly certain what you’ve got (assuming it is a waxwing) is a Cedar. Cheers.
I live in Connecticut we had a flock of Bohemian waxwings come through here last year. people said since Canada had such a bad winter 2007-2008 there was not enough berries for them. The snow and ice did not melt till late. There was a big flood in North Eastern Canada, Maine area. They were mixed in with the cedar waxwings. I did not see them until one of the camera people pointed them out to me. I have pics but do not know how to post them here. I am sure that is what they were people came from miles to see and photograph them.
Hi Doreen. I remember seeing your original comment - thanks for getting in touch again. We don’t actually have a way for people to post photos directly on to the blog because we don’t have the time to moderate it constantly and you just don’t know these days what sort of images the occasional idiot might upload while we’re not watching! It’s not nice to have to think like that, but I’m afraid it’s a risk we just daren’t take. Having said that we do welcome photos: if you’d like me to post one next to your comment please do email it to me (charlie10000birds AT gmail DOT com) and I’ll upload it for you. Cheers.
I have just seen my first flock of Waxwings in Iowa. My wife and I could not figure out what they were until I visited my Mother who has a wonderful bird book. It appears it is a Cedar Waxwing. I have taken several pictures that will hang on my walls once processed. This is truely a most magnificient bird. We have enjoyed watching them eat berries though we don’t quite now what the berries are. We live in Cedar Rapids and just went through a horrific flood. The berries, which appear to be a weed of some sort, came in after the flood and definitly appeal to these birds.
Hi Charlie,
Thanks again for your beautiful pix! We do have some cute pix of baby as he is growing, but nothing online.
Thanks for the quick reply! It definitely is a cedar waxwing baby, and we are located in Nova Scotia. We have noticed waxwings in Feb here on our apple trees so they must have been bohemians. Our wee one is growing like a weed too! What a lovable bird, we will sure miss him if/when he migrates. He has learned to fly and bathe and preen, catching some mosquitoes in mid-air too and he is officially living outdoors now for a couple days. But he keeps flying down to momma and poppa for fruit when he hears/sees us. We haven’t seen the cedars in our area for a week now, hopefully they haven’t gone yet so he can hook up with them to migrate, otherwise we might have an aviary in the house for the winter
do the females and males look different or the same?
thank you
Male and female waxwings are essentially the same.
Great photos! About twenty of these beauties showed up yesterday in my Chokecherry tree. They stayed about an hour feeding. Never have seen them before and it took me all day to discover what they were. We live in Apsley, a small town about two hours north & east of Toronto Ontario, Canada.
Great website, I will bookmark it for future reference.
I had the great pleasure of watching about 40 of the bohemian waxwings
in southern oklahoma today, March 25 2010. What a beautiful bird!!!!
I have never seen these in Oklahoma before.
Hi Tony. Thanks for letting us know. And, yes, they are beautiful birds!
Cheers
I saw my first cedar waxwing today. Thanks
Is it possible to have seen a Bohemian Waxwing in Wareham, MA, on May 22, 2010? I do remember vivid yellow markings on the wings, but now I am second quessing myself because his habitat is not so Eastern.
Hi Pippi
I’m afraid I’m going to have to say that I just can’t answer your question. It’s unlikely at this time of year, but I’ve been birding too long to say that something is impossible when I wasn’t there to verify a sighting! Sorry…
Hello there! So glad I found this site!
This past week (June 14th-17th) there were 3 of these birds flutting outside our office bldg windows, here in Woodbridge NJ. They kept flying at our windows and tapping them over and over again, then sitting in the tree for a couple minutes, then start tapping and fluttering again. No one in the office had ever seen this type of bird before. We kept guessing at what it was, but when we looked at pics online, it was not the bird we guessed it to be. I finally looked up “North American Birds Species” online. After about 20 minutes, I found the pictures of the Waxwings. I said No way! That can’t be it they don’t come this far south. But I had 3 co-workers come in and look at the color photo on my computer. Each one said, “YEAH THAT’S IT!! We looked at the printed out photo, and then the birds in the tree. All of us here agree. They are without a doubt Bohemian Waxwings! How it it possible then are way down here in Central NJ?? Amazing!
Please let us know we are not crazy, and it is possible they are this far south! Thank you
Julia
I work at a minesite 60 kilometres east of Timmins, Ontario, Canada. Most every morning, since the beginning of July, while doing environ-mental water readings, I observe up to five waxwings. With the use of binoculars and your website, I was able to determine these beautiful birds are indeed cedar waxwings.
They perch atop larch trees and occasionally flutter skyward preying on what is perhaps dragonflies, or something with a silvery sheen to its wings.
A picture’s worth a thousand words, and your photographs are phenomenal. Thanks.