Waxwing, Scientific Name: Bombycilla Stock Image

The waxwings are three species of passerine birds classified in the genus Bombycilla. They are pinkish-brown and pale grey with distinctive smooth plumage in which many body feathers are not individually visible, a black and white eyestripe, a crest, a square-cut tail and pointed wings. The Waxwing is a plump bird, which is slightly smaller than a Starling. It has a prominent crest (head feathers that stick up). It's reddish-brown with a black throat, a small black mask around its eye, yellow and white in the wings and a yellow-tipped tail. It does not breed in the UK, but is a winter visitor. In some years, we see larger numbers of visiting Waxwings, called irruptions, when the population in their breeding grounds gets too big for the food available.