SHOWING NAMESAKE - A Cedar Waxwing on the beaver pond. Waxwings get their name from the small red tips on the feathers of their inner wing, which reminded early naturalists of the red sealing wax used on important letters. The birds' red markings are not wax, of course, but Keratin ( the same substance as the rest of the feather) formed into a solid flat tip and decorated with red pigment. Waxwings eat mainly fruit and are hanging around the beaver pond into Fall to scrounge what berries and cherries that have not already been eaten.