Sometimes called the Southern Corden-bleu, it’s easy to see why especially in the way powder-blue chest contrasts beautifully with yellowish underpants and pale brown back creating a cordon-bleu of color.
Meet the Blue Waxbill
Photo Courtesy of Alandmanson / CC BY-SA 4.0
The blue waxbill (Uraeginthus angolensis), is also known as the southern blue waxbill, Blue-breasted waxbill, or southern cordon-bleu. The male has powder blue cheeks, throat, breast, and flanks. Underparts are a pale brown, sometimes having a yellowish buff. The upperparts are uniformly brown.
Photo Courtesy of © Hans Hillewaert/CC BY-SA 3.0
The female is overall pale than the male, with the blue confined to the rump, tail, head, and upper breast.
Photo Courtesy of RJ Photos UK/CC BY 2.0
The Blue waxbill is found in southern Africa, the Congo to Kenya, and Tanzania in the east of the country to northern South Africa.
This species is also found on the islands of São Tomé and to Zanzibar where it is thought to have been introduced.
Photo Courtesy of Derek Keats / CC BY 2.0
The Blue waxbill is an adaptable bird that lives in a variety of habitats but tends to prefer well-watered to semi-arid savanna, especially where umbrella thorns grow. They also seem to like natural growth in cultivated land and forest edges.
Photo Courtesy of Derek Keats / CC BY 2.0
In these habitats, this bird eats grass seed, termites, and other insects. They have also been recorded eating fallen fruits from Boscia albitrunca.
Breeding for this species occurs all year round. However, egg-laying usually peaks in January. Both males and females construct a nest made out of plant material with a tunnel leading in on one side. The nest is built on or in a bush or tree. Sometimes these birds even use an old nest of another species. The female will lay 2-7 eggs with incubation being carried out by both sexes for 11-12 days. Both parents also feed the chicks until they are fully fledged at around 17-21 days.
Photo Courtesy of Derek Keats / CC BY 2.0
This bird is not considered to be under any immediate threat due to its wide range and adaptive abilities.
Watch this bird right here in the video below:
H/T Wikipedia – Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
A glossy shimmering blue-green bird with beautiful contrasting iridescent royal blue and violet tones!