Cedar Waxwing vs Tufted Titmouse
The check that settles it
Grey with a crest but no mask, no yellow, and a thicker bill.
Cedar Waxwing
Bombycilla cedrorum
- Size
- 15–18 cm
- Bill
- thin pointed
- Where
- woodland, yard
- Voice
- A very high thin whistle, easily missed and often the only sign a flock is overhead.
Tufted Titmouse
Baeolophus bicolor
- Size
- 14–16 cm
- Bill
- conical
- Where
- feeder, woodland, yard
- Voice
- A loud clear whistled 'peter-peter-peter', carrying much further than the bird's size suggests.
Confirming a cedar waxwing
- A bright yellow band across the tip of the tail.
- A black mask outlined in white, and a swept-back crest.
- Silky, unstreaked plumage with no pattern anywhere.
- Red waxy droplets on the wingtips of adults — the feature it is named for.
Confirming a tufted titmouse
- A grey pointed crest — the only small grey crested bird in the east.
- Black forehead patch just above the bill.
- Rusty-peach wash along the flanks.
- Large dark eye in an unmarked face.