Waxwing
The Waxwing is a plump bird which is slightly smaller than a Starling. It is buff or pinkish-brown in colour with a black throat, a small black mask round its eye, yellow and white in the wings, a yellow-tipped tail and a prominent crest. The bird’s name is derived from the red tips to some of the wing feathers which are said to look like they have been dipped in sealing wax.
Waxwings breed in the dense forests of northern Europe but they occur in varying numbers in the UK from October to March. In some years they can occur in large numbers (known as irruptions) when the population in the breeding areas gets too big for the food available.
The first UK arrivals each winter are usually seen on the east coast from Scotland to East Anglia but birds then move inland in search of food. They can be found in parks and gardens and even busy public places such as supermarket car parks, typically where there are berry-bearing trees and bushes such as rowan, hawthorn, cotoneaster and rose.
Waxwings seem fearless of humans so it is relatively easy to get very close views of these stunning birds.
Waxwings make an easily recognisable high-pitched trilling sound like a bell.
Date: 11th December 2010
Location: Folkestone, Kent
Waxwings breed in the dense forests of northern Europe but they occur in varying numbers in the UK from October to March. In some years they can occur in large numbers (known as irruptions) when the population in the breeding areas gets too big for the food available.
The first UK arrivals each winter are usually seen on the east coast from Scotland to East Anglia but birds then move inland in search of food. They can be found in parks and gardens and even busy public places such as supermarket car parks, typically where there are berry-bearing trees and bushes such as rowan, hawthorn, cotoneaster and rose.
Waxwings seem fearless of humans so it is relatively easy to get very close views of these stunning birds.
Waxwings make an easily recognisable high-pitched trilling sound like a bell.
Date: 11th December 2010
Location: Folkestone, Kent
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