Bird Guide

Blue Waxbill vs Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu

Blue Waxbill (Uraeginthus angolensis)

Blue Waxbill

Uraeginthus angolensis

Tiny10 gWoodland

The blue waxbill has powder-blue face, breast, rump, and flanks with pale brown upperparts. The female is paler than the male and the blue is confined to the rump, tail, head, and upper breast, with the rest of the underparts being buffy brown. They measure 12–13 cm in length. The call is a soft 'seee-seee', often repeated as bird flits through the lower parts of bush and scrub.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: B Pulman005 · CC BY 4.0
Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu (Uraeginthus bengalus)

Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu

Uraeginthus bengalus

Tiny10 gShrubland

Like other members of its genus, the red-cheeked cordon-bleu is a very small finch, measuring only 12.5–13 cm (4.9–5.1 in) in length. It weighs 9.9 g (0.35 oz) on average, with known extremes in wild populations ranging from 8.9–11 g (0.31–0.39 oz). The adult male has uniformly brown upperparts, pale blue breast, flanks and tail and a yellow belly. There is a red patch on each cheek, but this can rarely appear orange or even yellow. Females are similar but duller, and lack the cheek spot. Immature birds are like the female, but with blue restricted to the face and throat. Voice: Its contact call is a thin, high-pitched piping, often repeated, and variously transcribed as siii siii or tsee tsee. The song is more complex, consisting of 4–6 high-pitched notes, the last of which is longer, lower and more burry. Described as "rhythmic but lazy", it has been transcribed as wit-sit-diddley-diddley-ee-ee.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu
Recorded by Anne Ndung'u · Song · Nairobi, Nairobi County, Kenya · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Attila Oláh · CC BY 4.0

Where you might meet both

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Blue Waxbill and Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu.