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.

Some of the wing feathers have red tips, the resemblance of which to sealing wax gives these birds their common name.

[1] Bombycilla, the genus name, is Vieillot's attempt at Latin for "silktail", translating the German name Seidenschwänze.

[7] Waxwings also choose nest sites in places with rich supplies of fruit and breed late in the year to take advantage of summer ripening.

Both birds gather nest materials, but the female does most of the construction, usually on a horizontal limb or in a crotch well away from the tree trunk, at any height.

The female incubates, fed by the male on the nest, but once the eggs hatch, both birds feed the young.

[7] They are not true long-distance migrants, but wander erratically outside the breeding season and move south from their summer range in winter.

In years with poor berry crops, huge numbers can irrupt well beyond their normal winter range, often in large flocks of hundreds or occasionally even thousands.