© 2005 Peter Elfman ...Science Art-Birds

Title: Waxwings
Species: Waxwings (Bombycilla garrulus)
Artist: Peter Elfman (for further information, click on the artist's name)
Image size: 16" x 23"
Media: watercolor on Arches paper
Date: 2005
Location: artist's studio

The artist notes that in Sweden Waxwings breed in the northern taiga region, migrating in the autumn to the southern portion of the country where they are often found in large, gregarious flocks of up to 500-1,000 birds feeding on fruit and berries. Elfman continues: "The Waxwing is for me a favorite bird, both in the garden and in my paintings. . . . [It] has unique plumage. Soft pink, grey and brown colours contrast with intense black, yellow, red and white. It´s a stocky bird with a prominent crest...The call is a trilling and high-pitched, like small silver bells!"

Waxwings have a Holarctic distribution, and in North America go by the name, Bohemian Waxwings, because of the nomadic tendencies of their winter flocks. Research has shown that for most of the year these birds prefer sugary fruits, but in the warmer months take insects, and that these birds are monogamous but non-territorial, which might explain their lack of song. Research has also shown that the red, waxy tips of the secondaries of adults and some juveniles appear to serve a social function. With age, these tips -- along with other plumage characters, such as the brightness and size of their yellow tail band and their primary wing-stripe--increase in number and/or size, and those with more ornamentation, fledge more young. Since these colors are derived exclusively from their diet, they are linked to feeding habits.