FINCHforum

Has anyone heard of a redcheek cordon blue male not showing red cheeks?

I thought I had a female RCCB and a female BCCB in my mixed aviary. But they now have three baby fledglings.

Originally I had males for each of them but both died. The babies look exactly like the baby pictures on the forum's species site so I don't think they are hybrids.

One adult has the brighter pink beak so i'm assuming that is the BCCB. The other one is smaller and with a darker beak and hangs with the babies constantly and I'm thinking that is the RCCB with out the red cheeks? Although, It is the brighter pink beak bird that the babies beg too and feeds them.

confused... but thrilled.

I will get pictures up as soon as I can entice my sister over here with her camera!
Just discovered a teeney weeney cordon blue in my inside aviary during a nest check ( two unhatched eggs)...... and I'm positive the parents are RCCB's!!

Found an old pic of the bright pink beaked cordon blue that seems to act like the father --- does the feeding of the fledglings but does not hang out with them. My sister said she'd come tomorrow to take more pics. So this is one i suspect is the Blue Cap Cordon Blue --- but is was sold to me as a female.

I think you must have a BCCB cock and an rccb hen. I have never heard of rccb cocks without the red cheeks, but some have small red patches compared to others. If you have hatchlings, you know you have one male and one female. Since the rccb cock would have the red cheeks, the male must be the other bird. Pictures will help to confirm this hypothesis.

Your photo looks like a male BCCB, so your other bird must be a hen, and from your description, it sounds like an RCCB hen. You now have hybrid babies which will probably be fertile, so you will have to be careful not to breed them. The chances are, if any of the three babies are male, they will have the red cheek patches, but the patches will be much smaller than normal.