Cedar Waxwing

On 23 October 2018, Erika and I happened upon a large flock of Cedar Waxwings in the Carleton College arboretum. The first is a rather motley immature bird. The second is a more elegant adult. If you look closely at the adult, you will notice a few of the red feather tips for which waxwings are named. Both adults and immatures have variable numbers of these feather tips, although immature birds often have fewer of them. The immature in my photo lacks red tipped feathers.