| Description:
This is a large bird (7 1/2 - 8 3/4"). From a distance it will appear uniformly grayish with a broad yellow band across the tip of the tail and a noticeable crest. Adults will show a black mask like their more southerly cousins, the Cedar Waxwing. A distinctive field mark is the dark chestnut/rusty undertail coverts and the white stripe on the wing. Juveniles will not be as gray and will have dusky streaking below. But they, too, will show pale rusty undertail coverts and the white in the wing. This is a bird of the northern forests where it feeds on mountain ash, crab apples and other fruit trees. In winter it will move south where it displaces the Cedar Waxwing. Although known for it's flocking tendencies, it is rare for them to come this far south in any great numbers. Most records are of individual birds. They will often forage in mixed flocks with starlings (whom they resemble in flight) and robins feeding on berries. |
sightings of this NJ birdThis is definitely a very rare winter visitor. It is described as "casual" to PA. It is described as "rare" in NJ where all of the accepted records are between December and April. There are no confirmed records for DE. although there was an undocumented report of "a flock" in April 1962. |
