An picture of a Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum), enjoying the berries that are getting ripe around my cabin. But looking at it makes me wonder why this one doesn’t have the characteristic red waxy wing tips that I see so often.

Those red wax tips on the Waxwing’s secondary feathers are red thanks to a carotenoid pigment, astaxanthin. As the young bird adds years to its age those waxy tips begin to grow in. Younger birds have 0 to 5 red waxy tips, as the bird ages it gets between 5 to 9 red tips, and birds with 9 or more are older. These red tips seem to play a part in mate selection.

By the way, secondary feathers are located at the bottom of a bird’s wings. They are the inner flight feathers which aid in soaring and lift in flight.

Here is another Cedar Waxwing in the blueberry bushes, an older one with red waxy tips on its secondary feathers.

So glad that the birds enjoy the blueberries as much as I do!

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