Crossword clues for waxwing
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Waxwing \Wax"wing`\, n. (Zo["o]l.) Any one of several species of small birds of the genus Ampelis, in which some of the secondary quills are usually tipped with small horny ornaments resembling red sealing wax. The Bohemian waxwing (see under Bohemian) and the cedar bird are examples. Called also waxbird.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Wiktionary
n. Any of several songbirds of the genus ''Bombycilla'', having crested heads, and red tips to the wings.
WordNet
n. brown velvety-plumaged songbirds of the northern hemisphere having crested heads and red waxy wing tips
Wikipedia
The waxwings are passerine birds classified in the genus Bombycilla. They are brown and pale grey with silky plumage, 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. According to most authorities, this is the only genus placed in the family Bombycillidae, although Phainoptila is sometimes included. There are three species, the Bohemian waxwing (B. garrulus), the Japanese waxwing (B. japonica) and the cedar waxwing (B. cedrorum).
Waxwings are not long-distance migrants, but move nomadically outside the breeding season. Waxwings mostly feed on fruit, but at times of year when fruits are unavailable they feed on sap, buds, flowers and insects. They catch insects by gleaning through foliage or in mid-air. They often nest near water, the female building a loose nest at the fork of a branch, well away from the trunk of the tree. She also incubates the eggs, the male bringing her food to the nest, and both sexes help rear the young. Waxwings appear in art and have been mentioned in literature.
Waxwing was an indie rock band from Seattle, Washington that drew influences from a wide variety of folk and punk groups.
Waxwing was a British solid rocket motor used for apogee kick as the 3rd (upper) stage of the Black Arrow satellite launch vehicles. Waxwing was used to successfully place the Prospero X-3 satellite into low Earth orbit on 28 October 1971, Britain's only satellite launch on an indigenously-developed launch vehicle.
Another use of Waxwing was to increase the velocity of test re-entry vehicles on Black Knight during tests for the Blue Streak missile.
The waxwings are passerine birds classified in the genus Bombycilla.
Waxwing may also refer to:
- Waxwing (band), a Seattle band
- The Waxwings, a Detroit band
- Waxwing (rocket motor), a solid rocket motor
Usage examples of "waxwing".
He knew how the forms of life branched out from willowherb to bog orchid, waxwing to grebe, elm to paulownia, cichlid to sea-squirt.
A cedar waxwing swinging on the end of a tree limb gave me a sharp look through his black robber's mask, decided I was mad but harmless, and went about his business.
Something brown and yellow that kept whizzing past the porch was a cedar waxwing.
Charlie pointed out particular birds: cedar waxwings feeding on red berries in a chokecherry tree, a redheaded woodpecker tat-tatting away on a dead oak.
They had seen cedar waxwings so calm and gentle and distinguished moving in their lovely elegance with the magic wax touches on their wing coverts and their tails, and Littless had said, “They’re the most beautiful, Nickie.