COVER STORY: SPECIES PROFILE
THE waxwings acquired their generic name Bombycill from bombyx, the Greek name for silk and are related to the silky flycatchers (Ptiliogonatidae) of the New World. “Silk tail” has been an alternative name to the more common “waxwing”, a term which describes the red tear-drop extensions of the secondary feather shafts, like plumes dipped in sealing wax.
This red coloration, which is derived from the carotenoid antaxanthin, varies among the three species of waxwings. The large Bohemian waxwing (B. garrulus) from Europe and Asia, which is the well-known winter visitor to the UK, consistently has red-tipped secondaries. However, the tipping is only present in about half the population of the smallest waxwing species, the cedar waxwing (B. cedrorum) of North and Central America. The Japanese waxwing (B. japonica) is the intermediate-sized species, found in
