Tiny bird, dramatic cheeks

Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu

A pocket-sized finch with sky-blue feathers, a tomato-red cheek patch, and the kind of confidence usually reserved for birds with much larger agents.

Runs light

Adults are roughly 12.5 to 13 cm long and average about 10 g. This web page is probably heavier.

Cheek branding

The male has a red patch on each cheek. Subtle? No. Effective? Absolutely.

Seed specialist

It mainly eats grass seeds and other small seeds, making it the snack-size expert of dry grassland.

Not just the males

Female red-cheeked cordon-bleus sing too, especially around breeding time.

Facts summarized from Wikipedia. Photo by Charles J. Sharp, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Male red-cheeked cordon-bleu perched on a branch
The red-cheeked cordon-bleu: very small, very blue, and apparently committed to excellent face paint.