[1] The genus name Bombycilla comes from the Ancient Greek bombux, "silk" and the Modern Latin cilla, "tail";[3] this is a direct translation of the German Seidenschwanz, "silk-tail", and refers to the silky-soft plumage of these birds.

Their markings are a "silky, shiny collection of brown, gray, and lemon-yellow, accented with a subdued crest, rakish black mask, and brilliant-red wax droplets on the wing feathers.

These wax-like droplets are attributed to the pigmented and medullary layers of the secondary tip being surrounded by a transparent cuticle.

Birds that have fed on berries of introduced Eurasian honeysuckles while growing tail feathers will have darker orange-tipped tail-feathers.

[9] The two common calls of these birds include very high-pitched whistles and buzzy trills about a half second long often represented as see or sree.

[9] Preferred habitat consists of trees at the edge of wooded areas, or forests, especially those that provide access to berry sources as well as water.

[6] Outside the breeding season, cedar waxwings often feed in large flocks numbering hundreds of birds.

Rare vagrants have reached western Europe, and there are two recorded occurrences of cedar waxwing sightings in Great Britain.

[10] During courtship the male and female will sit together and pass small objects back and forth, such as flower petals or an insect.

The nest is a loose open cup built with grass and twigs, lined with softer materials and supported by a tree branch averaging 2 to 6 m (6.6 to 19.7 ft) above ground but, at times, considerably higher.

The egg shells are of various shades of light or bluish grey with irregular, dark brown spots or greyish-brown splotches.

[6] The cedar waxwing is sometimes responsible for significant damage to commercial fruit farms and thus can be considered a pest,[13][14] especially because it feeds in large groups.

In such cases intestinal analysis revealed stomach contents of 84% fruit, 12% invertebrates, and 4% flowers, among 212 individuals involved in the study.

The nutrient deficit of sugary fruits alone is mitigated through flower and subsequent pollen consumption that is rich in protein.

[21] Studies have shown that when seeds were observed being regurgitated or expelled, activity and ingestion increased as opposed to when seeds were consumed and passed through the digestive tract, limiting further activity and foraging in which waxwings exhibited a period of "loafing" characterized by stretches of inactivity after a meal.

[22][21] This allows them to still exhibit relatively high digestion efficiencies in spite of the gut processing limitations that are associated with eating seeds.

[1] [12]Populations are increasing in their range partly because fields are being allowed to grow into forests and shrublands, and fruiting trees like mountain ash are being planted as landscaping.