Red-cheeked cordon-bleu
| Red-cheeked cordon-bleu | |
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| Male in Gambia | |
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| Female in Kenya | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Estrildidae |
| Genus: | Uraeginthus |
| Species: | U. bengalus |
| Binomial name | |
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Uraeginthus bengalus (Linnaeus, 1766) |
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The red-cheeked cordon-bleu or red-cheeked cordonbleu (Uraeginthus bengalus) is a small passerine bird. This estrildid finch is a resident breeding bird in drier regions of tropical Sub-Saharan Africa. Red-cheeked cordon-bleu has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 7,700,000 km².
When he first described the red-cheeked cordon-bleu in his 1766 edition of Systema Naturae, Carl Linnaeus assigned it to the genus Fringilla. It was later moved to the genus Uraeginthus, along with the rest of the cordon-bleus and the grenadiers. The red-cheeked cordon-bleu, the blue-capped cordon-bleu, and the blue waxbill—form a species group within the genus. Further, the red-cheeked cordon-bleu may form a superspecies with the blue waxbill, with which it shares similar habitats.
There are five subspecies, which differ primarily in the amount of blue on the face and underparts of the females.
On 15 February 2013, the American Ornithologists' Union marked this species in their database as a taxonomic synonym to the incertae sedis family containing the bananaquit. No explanation was given, and it would seem this may have been a mistake.
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.
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Wikipedia