A Comparative Study of Captive Blue Waxbills (Estrildidae)

SUMMARY The behaviour and voice of the blue waxbills Uraeginthus ongolensis, U. bengalus and U. cyunocephalus studied in captivity are described and composed. Most of the calls are homologous and similar, if not identical, but the songs and alarm calls of the three differ in sound. Feeding, agonistic and reproductive behaviour are described. Cyanocephalus bows its head further forward in the Stem Display, this difference being correlated with its blue crown. Minor differences of behaviour and the apparently less competent sexual recognition of angolensis may be correlated with its lesser degree of sexual dichromatism. The parental behaviour is essentially the same in all three forms. After fledging, young are recognized individually and strange young are not fed, except (rarely) by individuals with no young of their own. In three cases of adoption the common factor was that the adopting individual was sexually attracted to one of the real parents of the young. The taxonomy of the three species is briefly discussed.