Cedar Waxing

Scientific Name:

Bombycilla cecimrion Origin:

North America

This is an easy-to-manage soft billed bird although you must be careful enough to offer right diet to the pet as the bird has the tendency to gain weight. It needs a large aviary and a carefully regulated diet. The smooth, silky plumage of the Cedar Waxwing is one of its most notable features. It is placid in nature and thrives well in groups. Several pairs may be kept together and with other species of similar size. If properly trained, bird can turn into an excellent pet.

Description:

Size: 15 cm (6 in)

COCK:

Head: pink-olive merging into grey-brown. Rump: grey. Tail: grey and edged with yellow. Eye stripe: wide black band. White streaks under eye. Wings: black with bright red flashes. Crest: pink-olive. Beak: black. Legs: black.

HEN:

Alike, so it cannot be sexed by appearance. Observe behavior to identify a cock bird.

Diet: (Softbill)

Coarse grade insectile mix, soaked currants amid sultanas, raisins and apples should he provided. It also enjoys berries. Encourage exercise by sitting food and drinking vessels some distance away from favorite perching spots.

Cedar Waxwing Breeding:

It is considered quite difficult to breed these birds, so try to keep several pairs. The aviary needs to be well planted with bushy conifers with high-mounted, cup-shaped wicker baskets and open-topped nest boxes set in the thickest foliage, encourage nesting.

Successful hatching of chicks requires hard work by the owner, as the parents must have plentiful supply of insects including gnats, flies and mosquitoes. Outside the breeding season, the Cedar Waxwing shows less interest in live food.

The following are some facts related to the bird specie, Cedar Waxing.

• The term ‘waxing’ added to the name of the bird because of the typical wax like appendages found in the tips of the secondaries of the bird’s feather. The exact function of the secondaries of the bird is yet to be determined. Studies say that the secondary tips can be used for signaling function in the mating season.
• During the 1960’s the birds with the wax like secondaries with yellow plumage instead of orange were seen in North Eastern USA and South Eastern Canada. The original orange color is due to the fact that the birds mainly feed on while red berries. Due to the intake of the red pigmented berries the bird gets the typical orange colored wax like secondaries.
• The bird is primarily fruit eating bird. The bird can stay only on fruits for several months. In fact the bird defecates the seed of the fruit that it eats.
• As because the bird is mainly feeds itself on fruits it is vulnerable for the bird to fall sick or even death due to high level of intoxication in case the bird happens to have eat a fermented fruit.