waxwing

American  

[waks-wing] / ˈwæksˌwɪŋ /

noun

1. any of several songbirds of the family Bombycillidae, having a showy crest and certain feathers tipped with a red, waxy material, as Bombycilla garrulus Bohemian waxwing, of the Northern Hemisphere.

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waxwing British  

/ ˈwæksˌwɪŋ /

noun

1. any of several gregarious passerine songbirds of the genus Bombycilla, esp B. garrulus, having red waxy wing tips and crested heads: family Bombycillidae

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Etymology

Origin of waxwing

First recorded in 1810–20; wax ¹ + wing

Example Sentences

On its website, the British Trust for Ornithology said "waxwings come to the UK in search of berries when crops run low closer to their breeding grounds in Fennoscandia and western Russia".

From BBC

A bumper number of waxwing sightings is being reported across Scotland this winter.

From BBC

Hummingbirds can’t resist the bright yellow blooms on this winter-blooming evergreen and, as Picquelle points out, “What could be more bold than watching a flock of cedar waxwings devour the spring berries?”

From Seattle Times

The other part was Meyer’s description of the cedar waxwing, a bird especially partial to those berries.

From Los Angeles Times

A waxwing slain beneath a living-room window, its biannual journey stopped dead by the sky in a pane of glass.

From New York Times