ISO female blue cap cordon bleu

[isobea]

Hi everyone,
I was lucky enough to find a beautiful male BCCB last weekend. Does anyone in the San Diego area have a female for sale? I am having a hard time finding one.
Thanks, Iso

[isobea]

Hi everyone,
Here we are almost 6 months later and I'm still looking for a female for my poor lonely blue cap. Does anyone know of one available in southern California? I would much rather pick her up in person than having her shipped sight unseen.
Iso

[Haider]

sometimes few breeders from CA get them imported. They are around LA area. I see their add every now and then. They dont have bule cap at the moment. I have 3 2016 captive males that need hens. no luck finding any in the Midwest

[isobea]

Haider - I have heard rumors that some might be available from the importers in May/June but so far they are just rumors. And personally, I would rather buy from a breeder and know if they were parent raised or fostered, what kind of food was accepted by the parents etc.
Iso

[w.l.]

Iso, from what I heard, all exports from East Africa stopped a year ago, meaning that Blue caps can't be imported from the wild any more. This may explain why both of you are having trouble finding them.
If you come across any leftover wild-caught female or a captive-bred one, snap it up while you still can even if it involves shipping.

[Haider]

hey w.l.
thank for the tip. I didnt know they blue cap import has stopped. maybe this explain why we cant find them.

[w.l.]

Haider

It's not Blue cap import that has stopped, but all exports from Tanzania and Uganda, the 2 countries that used to be sources of East African birds. As the Blue-capped Cordon Bleu is only found in East Africa, it may no longer be exported and thus imported from there. Traders may or may not find alternative ways to get them, but for now East African species seem to be off the import lists, and mostly West African birds can be imported - who knows how much longer?
This also affects Black-crowned waxbills, Purple grrenadiers, Peter's twinspots, Gray-headed silverbills and other popular species from East Africa.

[isobea]

w.l. - Oh no, say it's not true. Did they really stop all east African exports? That is so depressing. There are lots of red cheeks available (I saw tons for sale at the Pomona Bird Mart on March 19!). Aren't they roughly from the same area? One of the sellers suggested I get one of his females when I asked about blue caps, but I don't want to do that. We should really try to breed the few blue caps that are here - just need to find one.
Iso

[w.l.]

isobea

It's true I am afraid, I checked with 2 traders, one here and another in Holland.
Red-cheeks are much more widespread and are still freely exported from West Africa.
Well, a member keeps posting pics of young Blue caps raised by Societies - start offering to buy some! I'd personally prefer parent-raised birds, even adult wild-caughts, but now you should just grab whatever you can get!
One thing to be cautious about is whether they are pure blue-caps. With the females of red-cheeks being quite similar, I can imagine many people breeding hybrids, even without knowing.

[isobea]

w.l. - Thanks for the cautionary note. I already noticed the striking similarity of both species' females in photographs and at the Pomona bird mart. I'll do my best to find a true blue cap. There are several people here (members of one of the local bird clubs) who are also looking for blue caps - strangely enough, everybody needs females. Wish me luck!
Iso

[Haider]

Haider - I have heard rumors that some might be available from the importers in May/June but so far they are just rumors. And personally, I would rather buy from a breeder and know if they were parent raised or fostered, what kind of food was accepted by the parents etc.
Iso

well, i hope to find some soon. i think it will be very difficult to find parent raised birds. One member here has bunch of them that were raised by societies.

[isobea]

Haider - I called one of the bird farms who had told me two months ago they should have blue caps coming in May. Now they are saying late summer... I wonder if they just didn't want to tell me about the import stop or if they themselves are not sure yet.
Iso

[Babs _Owner]

isobea

Good luck on your search for a hen!

[isobea]

Babs - Thank you for your good wishes. We may need all the luck we can get. I talked to another finch club member last night and he is also looking for a female. What's up with that? Are they more fragile than males or did they import more males than females last year?
Iso

[w.l.]

Females are indeed more fragile so more die after being freshly imported.