![Japanese waxwing [<i>Bombycilla japonica</i> - <i>hirenjaku</i> (緋連雀) in Japanese] on branch](https://woodblockprints.org/media/lyon_collection/images/1/3/48949_ca_object_representations_media_1318_large.jpg)
Ohara Koson (小原古邨) / Shōson (祥邨) (artist 1877 – 1945)
Japanese waxwing [Bombycilla japonica - hirenjaku (緋連雀) in Japanese] on branch
ca 1900 – 1907
7.25 in x 14.375 in (Overall dimensions) Japanese woodblock print
Signed: Koson (古邨)
Seal: Koson
Publisher: Kokkeidō
National Museum of Asian Art "This lovely bird and its close relatives, the cedar waxwing, Bombycilla cedrorum, and the Japanese waxwing, Bombycilla japonica, are collectively known as "waxwings" because of the bright red waxy tips on the feathers of birds (yes, contrary to what I've learned and seen, immature birds can have waxy tips, too). The function of these red feather tips are not known."
Quoted from: "Mystery bird: Bohemian waxwing, Bombycilla garrulus" in The Guardian in 2010.
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This bird was given it's Latin name by Philip Frans van Siebold in 1824.
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Illustrated by a small color reproduction of this in Crows, Cranes & Camellias. The Natural World of Ohara Koson 1877-1945 by Amy Reigle Newland, p. 184, #K32.1.
Akiyama Buemon (秋山武右衛門) (publisher)
kachō-e (bird and flower picture - 花鳥絵) (genre)