19 Beautiful Birds You Can Own as Pets

Often, people will admire an animal and decide they want to keep it as a pet. Many times, this is not an ideal situation for the animal. This happens frequently with birds. Because they are beautiful and fascinating, birds are often trapped for sale in the exotic pet trade.

Blue Waxbill (Uraeginthus angolensis): The blue waxbill (Uraeginthus angolensis), also called southern blue waxbill, blue-breasted waxbill, southern cordon-bleu, blue-cheeked cordon-bleu, blue-breasted cordon-bleu and Angola cordon-bleu, is a common species of estrildid finch found in Southern Africa. It is also relatively commonly kept as an aviary bird. The blue waxbill mainly eats grass seeds, which are taken from the inflorescences. This is supplemented with termites and other insects. They have also been recorded eating the fallen fruits of Boscia albitrunca. They are normally seen in pairs or family parties, but do form larger flocks which often mix in with flocks of other estrildid finches.