Page 115 - Animals of the Sakhalin Region in myths and legends

Waxwing Japanese

(Bomlycilla japonica)

The body length is about 16 cm. The color of adult males is as follows: the
main color, distributed on the dorsal side, as well as on the chest and sides of the
body, is reddish-brown with a wine tint. This wine shade is much more intense
on the forehead and cheeks. The middle part of the abdomen is pale yellow.
The throat and lower part of the neck are black. The black color in the form of a
narrow strip stretches from the corners of the mouth through the eye and forms
elongated black crest feathers. Flight feathers are glaucous with light spots on
the tops, on which a pinkish bloom is either weakly or more strongly developed.
Tail feathers are dark gray or bluish with bright red tops. The red color is also
developed in the area of the shoulders and in the undertail. The beak is black,
the legs are black. The plumage of females is close to the plumage of males, but
their color is paler. Pink bloom is absent on the apices of flight feathers on white
borders and spots. The red color is also not developed in the undertail, where it
is replaced by ocher. Young Amur waxwings after the autumn molt are similar
to females, their crest is poorly developed.
It feeds on insects and berries. In the years of poor harvest, rowan berries
begin to migrate south of the nesting sites in September.
Distributed in the South-East of the Russian Far East. In Sakhalin Oblast,
breeds in the north of Sakhalin Island; during migrations occurs throughout
Sakhalin Island; Kunashir.

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