Red-cheeked cordon-bleu, a tiny African finch with sky-blue feathers
The Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu (Uraeginthus bengalus) is one of Africa’s most charming small birds, famous for its brilliant powder-blue plumage. Males are instantly recognizable by the vivid red patches on their cheeks, while females lack this marking and appear in softer tones of blue and brown.
Native to sub-Saharan Africa, these finches thrive in savannas, grasslands, and even villages, where they often forage on the ground for seeds and small insects. Despite their delicate size — barely 12 centimeters long — they are highly social, often gathering in small groups and emitting soft, high-pitched calls.
During courtship, males perform a delightful song-and-dance display, holding a piece of grass or feather in the beak while hopping in circles to impress females. Their melodious trills and gentle temperament make them popular in aviculture, though wild populations remain widespread and are not considered threatened.
As one of the continent’s most colorful finches, the Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu is a reminder of how even the smallest birds can light up the African landscape with color and song.
