Waxwings and Allies: Family Bombycillidae

The Waxwings are a small group of elegantly beautiful birds that are native to the northern latitudes of the world. This family only has three species that are confirmed Bombycillids: The Cedar Waxwing, Bohemian Waxwing and the Japanese Waxwing. The plumage on these birds is buffed and soft with grey to brown coloring with wings tipped in red, yellow and blue. They live primarily on a diet of fruit and during the summer and fall, these birds gorge themselves on the huge amount of berries that are found in northern forests. They are non-migratory, so during the winter these birds have to survive on rose hips and other winter-berries.

Love and other Threats

Waxwing courtship consists of passing an object, like a rock or piece of fruit, back and forth until one finally decides to take it. Its still not as weird as kissing... think about it. After the two have mated, the female will incubate the eggs in her soft nest while the male provides her with food.

Because these birds survive mostly on fruit, they ingest a lot of electrolytes (sugars and salts). While in the body, electrolytes need to be balanced out by a lot of water, and these birds drink plenty of it. Unfortunately, humans have inadvertently altered this process in the waxwing's habitat. In northern latitudes, icy roads are a problem, and salting them tends to fix it. When the salt on the road dissolves, it drains into wetlands and other water sources, causing the salinity of the water to rise. When waxwings drink the salty water they are unable to balance the electrolytes in their body and they die of dehydration. This is just another example of natural systems being disrupted by human ignorance.

Taxonomy

This is a small family that is on the verge of expanding. Some taxonomic systems include the Silky Flycatcher genus and the Palm Chat into this family. Right now, it only contains one genus and three species:

Genus Bombycilla