The social nature of the birds does not ensure that a preening pair is necessarily a coupled male and female. The male underside is said to be a brighter shade of red, however, difference of this nature may be too subtle to notice. One helpful note, the cock, in the courtship display will carry around a stem, or feather in his mouth, moving his head around in a conspicuous live manner, offering this item to his desired mate. Once the pair has mated, and the female starts producing her eggs, she becomes larger in the breast, and lower abdominal areas. Baldness may appear on some females heads from an aggressive male s hold on the female.
Red ears nest on or very near the ground and in bushes.
These birds are very social and fraternize with their own species in groups, seldom seen off its exploring, or feeding alone. They are not aggressive to other species in a mixed flight. Though they may try to mate with orange cheek waxbills. The red ear waxbills are commonly confused with the St. Helena. They have the same coloration with only one noticable differance, the black lines or bars on the St. Helena's.