(n.) Any one of several species of small birds of the genus Ampelis, in which some of the secondary quills are usually tipped with small horny ornaments resembling red sealing wax. The Bohemian waxwing (see under Bohemian) and the cedar bird are examples. Called also waxbird.
Example Sentences:
(1) Waxwings, a scarce winter migrant bird, were widespread, feasting on berries in towns and countryside.
(2) Several wild cedar waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) fell from a rooftop following ingestion of overwintered hawthorn (Crataegus sp.)
(3) • Large flocks of chaffinch with some bramblings in woodland, abundant redwing and fieldfare in hawthorn hedges, and rare waxwings appearing in unusually high numbers.
(4) Eight waxwings, Bombycilla garrulus, were fed exclusively with vegetable food for periods of 10-18 days.
(5) Thus the waxwing is a feeding specialist which can subsist at least temporarily on a totally vegetable diet.