Found in North and Central America
 Hear Their Calls
Cedar Waxwings know how to live well: they gather in groups of hundreds in the fall to socialize and celebrate a bounty of fruit, eating an abundance of sweet berries like cedar, juniper, and winterberry. They can be a noisy gaggle, often making high-pitched calls of trills and whistles, and can be spotted in California and other lower North and Central American areas during the winter months.
These gorgeous birds are known for their delightful coloring, with smooth necks, heads, and backs of sandy browns and grays, a stark black mask, sunny bellies and tail tips, and a red line on each wing. (They’re named for waxy red secretions on some birds’ secondary feathers, the purpose of which is not known.) They are very willing backyard visitors to those who nurture native fruit-producing trees and shrubs.
Fun fact: Cedar Waxwings really like to party. They occasionally get drunk from eating too many fermenting berries!
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