The female has a yellow rump and a soft red wash over her feathers. The bill is an excellent tool to pry open pine cones for the seeds. They can often be seen on the Sandia Crest in summer. A real treat is a flock of Cedar Waxwings. With close examination you can see the wax-like tips on the adult's wings.
Waxwings are irregular in their wanderings.
We are most likely to see them on mild winter days or in early spring, feeding in berry-bearing trees and shrubs. Unless it is very recent, there is no record of waxwings nesting in New Mexico. Large flocks of robins arrive in the fall to feast on juniper berries. They often spend much of the winter with us, though if it turns stormy or very cold they move south until the weather is more to their liking. They too seem to move about with the food supply, waiting for spring further north.