What is a Waxbill?
One of the things you learn when you start keeping birds is that some birds have a few different names. Another is that there are names for groups of birds that aren’t ‘proper’ zoological terms but help to break up the massive group that are passerine species. An example of that is the waxbill, another […]
Perfectly Purple – The Lavender Waxbill
Before I started keeping birds, if someone told me you could get a beautiful pale purple finch with a stunning red tail, I would have chuckled. Sure, British birds are lovely but there’s nothing remotely purple about the gang. Then I learned about the Lavender Waxbill which is definitely perfectly purple. Who is the lavender […]
The Common Waxbill
In my opinion, there’s nothing common about the common waxbill and that’s one of the reasons I tend to call them by their other name, the St Helena waxbill. These beautiful little birds with their bright red beak, red Zorro style eye mask and subtle barring on their brown feathers are a truly lovely little […]
Orange Breasted Waxbill
The orange breasted waxbill is a tiny finch with a lot of names that are somewhat misleading. It does have an orange breast, even a gold breast as with its other name, the gold breasted waxbill. It is sometimes known as the Zebra waxbill, though I’m never quite sure why on what one. But whichever […]
Blue Capped Waxbill
The blue capped waxbill is a distinctive little finch of the Estrildidae family that gets its name from its beautiful breast colour – a vibrant, electric blue. It originates from Central and East Africa and has adapted to living in captivity, though can still be tricky to breed. Just to let you know this post contains […]