Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu
Uraeginthus bengalus
Also called Red-cheeked Cordonbleu, Cordon Bleu, Red-cheeked Blue Waxbill, Crimson-eared Waxbill, CB
From Sub-Saharan Africa, from Senegal and Gambia east to Ethiopia and Somalia and south to Angola, Zambia, Tanzania and northern Mozambique. There is also an introduced population in Hawaii.12
At a glance the quick version
Looks how to spot one
Feathered; tiny waxbill with a pink bill
A jewel of a bird with light brown upperparts and a vivid sky-blue face, chest, flanks and tail. Cocks wear a bright red patch on each cheek, while hens are a little paler, with less blue and no red spot. The bill is a deep pink.12
Personality what they are like
Gentle, quiet birds that generally keep to themselves in a mixed collection. Pairs become protective of their nest in the breeding season, and cocks may squabble with each other, so one pair per space is simplest. Sitting birds like privacy and should not be disturbed.231
Daily activity how busy a day looks
Lively fliers that do best in a roomy, planted flight or aviary with places to hide.23
Grooming and care the hands-on bits
Self-grooming. They enjoy regular baths, so provide a shallow water dish.3
Home where they are happiest
Warm, dry quarters kept no cooler than about 18 C, with sunlight or full-spectrum lighting. A breeding pair needs at least about 90 x 40 x 40 cm, and they should come indoors for winter in cool climates.231
Food basics what goes in the bowl
Small seeds and millets, seeding grasses and greens such as broccoli or carrot tops, plus plenty of small live food (fruit-fly larvae, small mealworms, waxworms, ant eggs), which is essential when rearing chicks.231
Company who they like around
Lives in pairs that join small flocks and sleep huddled together on a perch. They can share space with firefinches and other waxbills, but should not outnumber the other species.23
The story where it all began
Mathurin Jacques Brisson described the bird in 1760, wrongly thinking his specimen came from Bengal, which is why the scientific name is 'bengalus'. Linnaeus gave it a formal name in 1766 and Jean Cabanis moved it to the genus Uraeginthus in 1851.1
Fun facts for the dinner table
- 1
Its scientific name 'bengalus' comes from a mistake: the first describer believed it came from Bengal, but the type specimen was from Senegal.1
- 2
Unusually for small songbirds, the females sing as well, which helps keep the pair in step.1
- 3
It has been recorded from sea level up to about 2,430 m.1
- 4
It is sometimes seen nibbling beeswax.1
Recognised by the official bits
- IUCN Red List
- Assessed as Least Concern.1
The care rhythm Furry Diary remembers it for you
A typical home-care rhythm for a Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu. It is our own starting plan, not a vet's advice, and you can change every line in the app.
- Fresh food and waterevery day
- Cage linerevery 2 days
- Full cleanevery week
- Bath offerA shallow dish or gentle mistevery 3 days
- Nails checkevery month
- Toy rotationevery 2 weeks
- Out-of-cage timeAbout an hour a day, if tameevery day
- Vet check-upevery year
Like what we are building? Buy us a coffee.
The breed atlas is free for everyone, with a source on every fact, and it will never show ads. If it helped you, a small tip keeps the research going. Any amount is lovely, and no is a perfectly fine answer too.
Where this comes from
Every breed page shows where each fact comes from. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are pet people, not a science magazine. Tell us at support@furrydiary.app and we will fix it.
- Red-cheeked cordon-bleu - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.orgused for range, size, weight, description, history, status, facts
- Cordon Bleu Waxbill (FinchInfo) finchinfo.comused for names, size, mutations, temperament, temperature, diet, social needs
- Cordon Bleu Waxbill Facts - Singing Wings Aviary singing-wings-aviary.comused for lifespan, weight, cage size, bathing, song, diet
Checked 2026-09-30. Text is written in our own words from these sources.