Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum)

County List:

Rule:

Forested or Mixed Forested/Nonforested Landscapes

Foraging and Nesting Habitat Requirements may be distributed across the COMPARTMENT 

Foraging Habitat 1st alternative:
      (Any Upland Deciduous (Regen or Sap))
      or (Any Upland Mixed (Regen or Sap))
      or (Any Lowland Deciduous (Regen or Sap))
   containing:
      Mast
   adjacent to:
      (Edge or Riparian)      

Foraging Habitat 2nd alternative:
      Grass
      or Upland Brush
      or Savanna
   containing:
      Mast

Nesting Habitat 1st alternative:
      (Any Upland Deciduous (Pole or Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven))
      or (Any Upland Mixed (Pole or Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven))
      or (Any Lowland Deciduous (Pole or Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven))
   adjacent to:
      (Edge or Riparian)

Nesting Habitat 2nd alternative:
      Upland Brush
      or Savanna

Habitat List:

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Literature:

Habitat: The Cedar Waxwing's dependence on wild fruits for food largely determines its selection of nest sites. Eastern red cedar, wild cherries, and flowering dogwood are basic waxwing food plants in the northeastern U.S. almost any sort or edge habitat containing these or other fruit-bearing plants may host waxwings. Such predominantly rural habitats include open woodland, hedgerows, cedar and tamarack swamps, streambanks, and roadsides. Suburban yards and other residential areas may also provide the requisite food and shelter. This species avoids densely forested areas. Atlas Habitat Survey data showed a wide range of habitat types and subtypes occupied by these birds: residential, shrub, and mixed forest habitats ranked high in the Lower Peninsula, while northern hardwoods were among the most frequently occupied in the Upper Peninsula.

Nesting is often, though not always, semi-colonial, and nests of different pairs can be found as close as 25 feet. Nest sites, often in eastern red cedar or orchard trees, typically border open areas.

Habitat: Breeding: Open deciduous and coniferous woodlands (avoids dense forests), orchards, shade trees. Semi-open country, commonly in agricultural areas and near water. Wintering: same.

Habitat: Open woodlands, fruiting trees, orchards; in winter, widespread, including towns. Breeding habitat is influenced by availability of fruiting trees and shrubs, often most common in "edge" situations, as along forest edges, streamsides, overgrown fields, edges of swamps, suburban yards. In winter, may be in any wooded or semi-open area where berries are abundant.

Diet: Mostly berries and insects. Majority of annual diet is berries and small fruits; feeds on very wide variety of berries, with some important sources including juniper, dogwoods, and wild cherries. Also eats some flowers and will drink oozing sap. Eats many insects in summer, including beetles, caterpillars, ants. Young nestlings are fed mostly insects at first, then more berries after a few days.

Nest: Placed in tree, on horizontal limb or in fork, usually 6-20 feet above the ground but can be lower or much higher (up to 50 feet). Nest is a rather loosely built open cup of grass, weeds, twigs, plant fibers, lined with finer materials such as moss, rootlets, fine grass, hair.