Bombycilla cedrorum
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The cedar waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) is a member of the family Bombycillidae or waxwing family of passerine birds. It is a medium-sized bird that is mainly brown, gray, and yellow. Some of the wing feathers have red tips, which resemble sealing wax, giving the bird its common name. It is a native of North and Central America, breeding in open wooded areas in southern Canada and wintering in the southern half of the United States, Central America, and the far northwest of South America. Its diet includes cedar cones, fruit, holly berries, and insects. The cedar waxwing is listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List.
The three species of waxwings were moved to their own genus, Bombycilla, by Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1808. Bombycilla is Vieillot's attempt at Latin for "silktail", translating the German name Seidenschwänze. Vieillot thought that motacilla, Latin for wagtails, was derived from mota for "move" and cilla, which he thought meant "tail"; however, Motacilla actually combines motacis, a mover, with the diminutive suffix -illa. He then combined this "cilla" with the Latin bombyx, meaning silk. The specific epithet cedrorum is Latin for "of the cedars".
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| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sacramento | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Austin | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Dallas | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Portland | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Calgary | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 6 | Montreal | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 7 | Salt Lake City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Houston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Tijuana | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 10 | Edmonton | 🇨🇦 Canada |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | National Zoological Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Columbus Zoo and Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Xcaret | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 4 | Selwo Marina | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 5 | Wildlife Center of Virginia | 🇺🇸 United States |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Cedar Waxwing sighting in Edmonton on a given day, based on 1,651 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 27th most-seen of the 190 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August
In that month about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Cedar Waxwing in Edmonton on a given day, against under 5% in November to April, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Cedar Waxwing sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
10th of 42
Of the 42 cities where we can rate Cedar Waxwing sightings, Edmonton ranks 10th at about 20%. The best odds are in Sacramento (United States, about 30%), Austin (United States, about 30%) and Dallas (United States, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Cedar Waxwing is recorded against all the birds logged in Edmonton (1,651 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
