~AFRICAN BLEUS~

Chronicles in Learning to Breed, Raise, Preserve & Keep African Waxbills

The Blue Jewels of Equatorial Africa

From the sky-blue girls to the bright turquoise boys, the Blue Caps of the Cordon Bleu Waxbill finches with their fuschia beaks, their heartfelt songs, and acrobatic dances, are by far the most captivating finches I have found in my years of bird-keeping. No bird has been able to stop me in my tracks like the song and mating dance of a male Blue Capped Cordon Bleu... somehow hopping up into the air from a branch in a steady rhythm, belting out a beautiful melody, bobbing his head and somehow holding a coconut fiber or feather in his beak... his iridescent turquiose-blue feathers in full plummage - capping his entire head and spread out fully in his tail. These striking colors never seem to fade even during non-breeding seasons. The sky-blue hens are also quite striking. They also sing and dance, I have had some ladies who could hold their own with the boys.

My much-loved first pair are pictured above: Peter and Piper. They didn't seem to know that I was an amateur in breeding waxbills. They insisted on nesting and breeding, and my job was to feed and clean and stay out of the way. I read about the struggles of many breeders with even getting these birds to nest, and I did not intend to breed my pair. I just wanted to keep them happy - but they have allowed me some intrusion and mistakes along the way, and their offspring have carried the same enthusiasm and forgiveness of my presence.

What has proven difficult is the rearing. So I decided to keep a journal of my successes and failures so that maybe, somehow, I can encourage or maybe even assist others on a similar path, seeking answers to the puzzles we encounter in trying to keep, preserve, breed, and raise African waxbills. This is my story for anyone who, like me, is driven to try, try, try again, in spite of the frustrations and difficulties that crop up. On a relatively small scale for now, I try to promote breeding and rearing in captivity, instead of relying on importing birds and taking them from the wild. Each finch has proven unique in personality and needs, and even as the numbers in my little flock rise, each still gets a name before fledging!

There are many schools of thought, and on this page I am steering clear of any debates on fostering. I have some Blue Caps who work with Societies to raise their chicks, and others that will toss their chicks no matter what amount of live food I provide. I do what I can to prevent chicks from any suffering via neglect. My long-term hopes and plans are to expand to the Blue-Breasted Cordon Bleus and Red-Cheeked Cordon Bleus, both are now banned from import and hard to find, so we need to make the most of breeding them in captivity so they do not become more endangered or even disappear from American Aviculture. Thanks to the National Finch & Softbill Society, its FinchSave Program, and the new American Softbill & Finch Association for protecting our birds! Other important links to helpful sites can be found in the Links section below.

Cordon Nest -Weaving

The Cordons built their nest within a spiral hamster toy originally meant to provide a diverse perch, but Peter

had another idea: he gathered long coconut fibers and weaved them masterfully into a tunnel within it. They have ignored ready-made nests, and in the absence of the hamster toy, they will literally weave fake plants together in an attempt to create a tunnel. Only when that fails to satisfy will they use part of a man-made nest as a base design or foundation. They will then weave the coconut fibers into a design any architect would compliment. They rest from breeding and egg-laying while sitting on the eggs until near hatching, when I then move the eggs to the society nest (in a separate cage) in order to hatch out and raise the chicks. The societies have initially exhibited no interest in nest-building, perhaps due in part to lacking a male. They used the nest as it was, ignoring the nesting matierals they were given, so I actually put the nesting materials in the nest and they then went about arranging them to their liking.

Learning Curve...

Though the attempts at getting the blue caps to raise their own chicks ended in frustration and I felt discouraged, I researched fostering and decided to give it a shot. I purchased two society finches that were under a year old (both turned out to be hens). The first nest had 2 of 3 eggs hatch. "Cordy," the chick pictured above, died on day 7 - I believe the society hens were not feeding him nor his sibling enough, and I intervened too late with handfeeding to save them.

The next nest was a success. Three eggs, and three hatchlings, including Pickles. One chick died at 15 days old with what appeared to be respiratory distress - the chick had steadily weakened for several days and was the runt of the group. The formula I used with this second nest involved more of a team effort: co-feeding from the beginning, monitoring when the hens would increase/decrease, and feeding the chicks enough to keep them strong enough to survive yet remain hungry enough to beg stimulate the hens to feed them. I had a little nursery-type thing going with a warm spot for the times I had to feed them outside the nest. I use coconut fibers within a round "large finch-size" nest, and placed ceramic heat emitters near and over the nest as the house temperature is often colder than the nest temperature. I fed the chicks at least 4 times a day for the first week by removing the entire nest, feeding each chick with Exact Handfeeding Formula (very watery in mixture in beginning), and then returning the nest as quickly as possible. The Societies were on a diet of hard-boiled eggs chopped up with the shells, and mixed with eggfood, regular seed, Insectivorious Feast, oyster shells, plus Calciboost and Daily Essentials1 supplements. As the chicks became more vocal, and the societies seemed more diligent, I would back off to checking them 2-3 times a day, with a rare need to intervene. They began to refuse any food from me, seemed alert, and continued to grow. In the latter part of the second week, the Society finches seemed fatigued and backed off for a period of about 36 hrs, so I resumed handfeeding during that time. The societies kicked back into gear and stuck with it until weaning. I did not have to assist at all with nests that followed.

The two chicks were unique in personality even though they appeared nearly identical. Pickles was and is very outgoing - always the one to climb around and be curious, and Pepper (hen) would hang back a bit. They both adapted well to living with their biologic parents, Peter and Piper, after weaning. They fledged at 19 days - a major victory that seems to have set the stage for many successes since. Below are pictures of the Pickles and Pepper, as well as Pebbles, during handfeeding, fledging and weaning.

The Fledging!

After over a year and a half of trials, the first success had me in tears of joy. I awoke on the morning of August 28, 2004, to find Pickles and Pepper perched perfectly on one of the top branches in their flight cage... tiny replicas of their Blue Capped parents. Their feathers were fluffy - showing no baldspots, their bodies still so tiny and at the same time all in such perfect balance - the tails and wings in just the right dimensions to allow them to easily perch and even fly and land upon the spots for which they would aim. I had many years of experience in breeding Australian finches - from Zebras to Cutthroats, but there is something so special about these tiny waxbills that makes all the struggles to succeed worthwhile. I kept a journal and I wrote the following entry on the morning they fledged:

"How anyone could witness what I have seen in the past two weeks, and not believe there is a God, is beyond my comprehension. I am so grateful to Him for giving me the opportunity to be a part in this miraculous gift of life. What began in tiny eggs smaller than jelly-bellies, looking like little more than worms upon hatching, is now a tiny little individual soul in the prettiest shades of sky blue with baby fuzzies mixed with feathers. And even in such an extreme time of development and growth, they remain balanced and able perch, swing, and most amazingly, to fly, truly fly! Currently, they are perched with their heads beneath their wings - sleeping soundly! It has most definitely been an exciting day that requires many naps and lots of feather-preenings between feedings."

The wonder has not worn off as I read that journal entry now, nearly two years later.

Nature AND Nurture?

Observations I journaled when Pickles and Pepper were @ 5 weeks old

I have heard of people who question the wisdom in fostering. This past week has amazed me as I have seen Pickles and Pepper show behaviors learned from their foster moms and behaviors they have never observed and are known to be specific to the Blue Cap Cordon Bleu Finch.

Pickles is transforming in color and behavior, and I believe Pickles at least thinks that he is a boy. He began to practice singing last week and now he serenades anyone who listens. His chirps are a bit less squeaky, and his songs have specific note changes. His feathers are turning a different shade of blue and his body is now nearly the length and breadth of a full-grown adult. He is sprouting blue feathers on his head, slowly changing from that baby brown to a distinctly different blue. The most remarkable behavior he has developed independent of the society moms is how he scoops up coconut fibers from the cage floor and flies up to perch next to Pepper and show her the fibers. He has not begun dancing and singing while holding the fibers, but he has an instinct to pick these fibers up and hold them, and the societies have never touched them nor built onto their nest. Pepper has also grown and began singing a bit yesterday. She has a soft chirp and song, and she is a bit more shy (possibly due to being younger). She too has a beautiful blue tail, and her feathers are smoother in appearance. Her feathers are a lighter sky blue, and I can tell the difference between them even from across the room! Of course, they have nowhere near the blue that will develop, and I could easily be wrong on the genders, but these chicks are truly growing and changing daily. They no longer even attempt to enter the nest, and they are eating completely on their own. Instead of just following their moms to the cage floor, they choose to go together and often when the Society moms are in their nest. I have also noticed that they ignore the boiled egg mix that I have been feeding the moms since day one, and they choose to eat the mixed plate that has eggfood, soft insect food, and seeds. Millet is by far their favorite, of course - but they eat it in balance with the other foods.

True to the ways of cordons, Pickles and Pepper love to play in the water. The societies sit up in their nest (empty at the moment), and the kids are in the "pool." The societies have always ignored the fake plants in the cage, but the cordon parents have always nested in them. This week Pickles began to play with the leaves, attempting to move them about and pull them off. Pepper watched and soon followed. They are fascinated with the fake plants and spend a great deal of time rearranging them. At night, the babies sleep on top of the nest, with their moms inside. They take frequent naps, head under wing, and Sugar spends any time she is outside the nest snuggling with her babies. Spice is sweet to them, but no longer seems focused on them. At the moment I am typing this, Sugar, Pickles and Pepper are all feather preening - sitting closely in a row and this usually occurs before and after naps.

Some of the behaviors I observe in Pickles and Pepper may be due in part to having their biological parents in a cage about a foot away, and Peter frequently answers Pickles. Recognition is apparent for both. The pictures I am now posting come from a digital camcorder I recently purchased. I played back a tape I made of Pickles practicing his singing, and immediately Pickles and Pepper frantically began to search for the bird - calling out to the mystery bird.

As you can see in the pictures above and below, these blue cap chicks are still babies and still have many changes to come. Their beaks are still black with no hint of the fuschia seen in adults; and while they have increased in size, they still have that baby fluff on the outside and they need time to mature emotionally and mentally on the inside before being moved into the larger flight with Peter and Piper.

Pickles Today!

Pickles continues to be outgoing, even aggressively territorial, and has even nested with more than one hen at a time. Now he has settled in with a hen of outside bloodstock and doesn't waver. Peter continued to breed regularly with Piper, and now with a younger hen after Piper suffered a broken leg/wing in a mid-flight collision with another finch. Peter took nearly a year off, showing no interest in any of the hens in the flight that tried to catch his eye. It seemed like he retired or was mourning. Then I moved both Peter and another hen to the society cage to help with some weanlings just learning to sing and dance. Almost instantly Peter built a nest and started breeding again with a hen nicknamed "Boo," as she has a shy personality. Even though I have built an indoor flight about five feet in length and three feet in height, Pickles never allowed Peter any peace if Peter tries to nest. Peter has always had a very laid-back personality, non-aggressive, and doesn't seem bothered by anything I do, while Pickles is anxious and flighty even when I am changing out food and water. It seems Peter just didn't want to deal with any fighting. Pickles now has more than a few sons and daughters of his own.

The Wonder and the Future

Currently I have two juvenile blue cap chicks just weaned and in their first molt. One I know is a boy, the other is still a mystery, and I named these two Starsky and Hutch when they hatched. They actually were several days apart in hatching, so one is a bit ahead of the other. They've found out that they can whistle a tune, a bit squeaky, but definitely blue cap in nature. The eldest has actually already learned to hop and sing with a coconut fiber in his mouth. He then flies up to their nest and has started to help his foster-dad in renovating and re-weaving their nest. These two chicks are sons of Peter. About 4 wks older and fully molted are three hens that are daughters of Pickles.

A new development this time around. I had Peter and Boo in the same flight cage as the foster parents (Sugar and her boyfriend "Chip"). I moved the eggs but did not move Peter or Boo out of the cage to the larger flight, and I did nothing to Peter and Boo's nest. Peter figured out where his eggs had gone, and he switched over to the society nest and assisted the society finches in hatching out and raising the chicks! Boo lost interest, but Peter has kept an eye on them.

Blue Caps available for purchase: proven breeders and young stock, located in Houston, TX. I'm seeking to establish a breeding program including Blue Breasted and Red-Cheeked Cordon Bleus. If you have any available, or you are seeking to purchase other waxbills that may be available through other breeders in this area, send email to:

Shannon McCullough - skgserenity@aol.com