Japanese Waxwing (Bombycilla japonica)
About the Japanese Waxwing
The Japanese waxwing (Bombycilla japonica) is a fairly small passerine bird in the waxwing family found in the eastern Palaearctic, where it breeds south of the breeding range of the related Bohemian waxwing, but overlaps extensively with it in winter. It feeds mainly on fruit and berries but also eats insects during the summer. The nest is a cup of twigs lined with grass and moss which is built in a tree. In males, the secondary wing feathers have red tips, the resemblance of which to sealing wax gives these birds their common name. It is listed by IUCN as Near Threatened, due to loss and degradation of its preferred forest habitat. The Japanese waxwing is one of three species placed in the genus Bombycilla by Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1808.
No audio on this page yet
We only publish recordings we may use commercially, because this site is supported by ads. xeno-canto lists 15 recordings for this species: 11 CC BY-NC-SA. None of them permits commercial use, so there is no player here — the page is kept as a profile so the bird is not missing from the guide.
As soon as someone uploads a freely licensed recording, we mirror it and the player appears here.
Listed as recorded in China, Japan, Russia, South Korea in the xeno-canto catalogue.
Related species you can hear
- Bohemian WaxwingBombycilla garrulusrecording
- Cedar WaxwingBombycilla cedrorumrecording
This species has no recording here yet — these relatives do, so you can hear what the family sounds like.