Their migration patterns are best described as erratic.  They move from place to place, feeding on fruit and leaving when the fruit has been consumed.  In many parts of southern Canada and the northern United States they can be found roaming about the entire year.   Those that do migrate generally arrive in late May and breeds across southern and central Canada as well as the northern half of the United States.  Some birds may migrate as far south as Columbia late in the fall.

These birds are very social and almost always seen in flocks.  They are one of the few songbirds that also nest in colonies and are accepting other nesting pairs nearby.  As they move about in flocks, they have the amusing habit of passing berries from one bird to another while they sit perched close together.   This habit is also part of the courtship ritual with the male hopping sideways toward the female and passing the piece of fruit or blossom petal to her.  The female will then hop away and then hop back toward the male and pass it back to him.

The clutch consists of 4 to 6 bluish-gray eggs spotted with dark brown and black.  The eggs are incubated for about 12 days and leave the nest about 17 days later.  In most cases the incubation is done by the female, but the sexes are difficult to tell apart and it has also been reported that both male and female share this duty.  They are uncommon Cowbird host partly because they tend to nest late in the year, but also because they will eject or damage the Cowbird's eggs.  They usually nest in July and August but sometimes the nests can be active as late as September and into October when there is a good supply of berries, which is the main food fed to their young.  Hatchlings are fed insects for the first day or two and then are switched to a diet consisting almost entirely of fruit.  Adults can store up to 30 chokecherries in their crop which they can regurgitate one at a time to feed to the nestlings.

The nest which is often located in gardens and orchards or open woodlands, is constructed of twigs, coarse grass, string, beard lichen where available, and lined with soft grass, wool, or bits of fur.  Both birds participate in building the nest with the female doing most of the construction while the male brings her materials.  The Cedar Waxwings generally have two broods.  When the second nest is built the male will usually do most of the construction while the female cares for the first brood.  The nest is generally saddled on the horizontal limb, usually in a deciduous tree, but occasionally in a conifer.  Backyard plantings of fall berries, such as pyracantha, hawthorns, and chokecherries are low in sugar and decay much slower than other fruits.  Because of this the fruit tends to stay on the plant through winter and can aid in attracting these birds to your backyard.  They can also be attracted with raw chopped apples, cherries, crabapples and grapes.  Sometimes a well placed birdbath will bring them to your backyard.

They have a reputation for gluttony and a flock of birds can descend on a fruit covered tree stripping in bare in very little time.  In some localities it is referred to as the "cherry-bird" because of its fondness for that fruit.  In the summer they add small caterpillars and winged insects to their diet hawking flying insects like Flycatchers.

Length: 6 1/2 to 7 inches