| Japanese waxwing | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Bombycillidae |
| Genus: | Bombycilla |
| Species: | B. japonica |
| Binomial name | |
| Bombycilla japonica (Siebold, 1824) | |
TheJapanese waxwing (Bombycilla japonica) is a fairly smallpasserine bird in thewaxwing family found in the easternPalaearctic, where it breeds south of the breeding range of the relatedBohemian waxwing, but overlaps extensively with it in winter. It feeds mainly onfruit andberries but also eatsinsects during the summer. Thenest is a cup of twigs lined withgrass andmoss which is built in a tree. In males, the secondary wing feathers have red tips, the resemblance of which tosealing wax gives these birds their common name. It is listed by IUCN asNear Threatened, due to loss and degradation of its preferred forest habitat.
The Japanese waxwing is 15–18 cm in length with a weight of 54–64 g, and itsplumage is mostly pinkish-brown. It has a pointed crest, a black throat, a black stripe through the eye, a pale yellow centre to the belly, a grey rump, rusty-red undertail coverts, and a dark grey tail with a black-bordered red tip. The wings have a pattern of black, grey and white with a diffuse reddish-brown bar across the greater covert feathers. Itscall is a high-pitched trill but there is no true song.[2][3]
UnlikeBohemian waxwing, the row of red tips on the secondaryfeathers of the wing (which give the birds their name) are only present in males; they also lack the 'teardrop' shape of that species.[3] Japanese waxwings often occur in mixed flocks with Bohemian waxwings which, as well as usually having more prominent waxy tips, are slightly larger, and with a yellow tail-tip, greyish centre to the belly and no reddish-brown bar on the wing.
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The Japanese waxwing breeds in the denseconiferousforest in theRussian Far East (theAmur basin, northernPrimorsky Krai, andSakhalin) and northeasternmost China (Manchuria,Heilongjiang province).
Outside of the breeding season, itmigrates south to winter inJapan, theKorean Peninsula, easternChina andTaiwan; the exact distribution is irregular, as birds will travel and move in search of food, mainly seasonal berries, and birds may be common in a certain area during one year but move away the next. In Japan, it is generally present from November to April; few birds winter onHokkaidō, but in southwestern Japan (Kyūshū,Shikoku, southernHonshu), it outnumbers Bohemian waxwings. In Taiwan, it is an irregular winter visitor, but with large flocks in some winters, such as the 2019-2020 winter when hundreds occurred in March 2020.[4] The winter habitat is open woodland, low-lying farmland, or low mountains, with birds frequently visiting the berry-laden trees in parks and private gardens.
Vagrant birds have been known to appear inHong Kong andCentral China; records from further afield, such as inEurope,South Asia or theMiddle East, are more than likely to be escapes fromcaptivity (oraviculture) than genuinely wild birds.
