The Blue Waxbill (Uraeginthus angolensisis)

They are called 'Blou Sysie' in Afrikaans, for the few Afrikaans speaking Blippers. I notice more and more of us joining Blipfoto and I am very excited about that! ;-)

This is the first time I saw them since we moved here in March this year! R snr is quite knowledgeable when it comes to birds and he was totally thrilled and surprised when I showed him my shots, taken in our backyard, this afternoon. Although we watched the birds around here with great enthusiasm, we never saw them here before today!

This beautiful little bird is one of South Africa's most striking finches, with males darker than females. Although they are ground-feeding seed-eaters, they do take insects when the opportunity arises.

I published two more nice shots of them here!

Blue waxbills build their nests of fine grass stems. The nest is a ball-like structure with a spout-like side entrance leading to a central chamber that is lined with feathers.

They normally lay three to four eggs. Their breeding cycle, like many small birds, is over within one month. The eggs take up to twelve days to hatch and the chicks fly within three weeks. Most small bird species will breed more that once during a prolonged rainy season, while the conditions are right. They breed mainly from December to May.