Lovebird

Within the kingdom of birds, lovebirds became very famous a few years ago, thus displacing canaries and parakeets in homes. It's like having a mini parrot, as many are capable of learning tricks or even talking.

If you would like to know the characteristics of lovebirds, what is their natural habitat, what they eat, their reproduction or the types of lovebirds that exist, this will interest you.

Characteristics of lovebirds

Lovebirds are known as inseparable birds, or love birds, due to their condition that, once they choose their partner, they are faithful to him until the end. They are birds about 13-16 centimeters long, about 28-60 grams in weight, and have brightly colored plumage. You can find a green, red, yellow, blue lovebird...

Its beak is curved, red or bone in color, and very strong. As for the legs, they use them to pick up objects as well as walk with them.

Conclusion animals of daytime habits and love to play. They are very sociable with humans (even more so if you have raised them since they were little), and very intelligent, being able to learn tricks or even say a few words.

Habitat

these birds They are native to Africa where they are known as inseparable. They live in areas of trees, where they like to blend in with the leaves and protect themselves from heat or cold. However, in some cases they are also capable of nesting in cavities.

Types of lovebirds

Within the lovebirds, there are different species. Some are better known than others, so here we leave you the ones that exist.

Lovebird Roseicollis

It is also known as the Namibian lovebird and its origin is in southwestern Africa. It measures about 15 centimeters and its plumage changes colors depending on each bird: yellow, blue, red, green, tricolor...). The beak is pink and male and female are almost indistinguishable, although it is said that females have larger heads and less intense colors.

They live about 20 years.

Fischer's Lovebird

Originally from East Africa, the Fischer's lovebird is a bird very similar to the roseicollis, but it differs from it in several ways: on the one hand, its beak, which is orange or red; on the other, its eyes, which have a white eye ring; and then the tail feathers, where some of them will be blue. Their life expectancy is around 15-20 years.

Lovebirds Personata

Known by their names inseparable black-headed or masked lovebird, It is characterized by having a varied tonality in its body, but a black and gray head, with rings in the eyes (which leave that space blank), hence it is said that they are masked. Its beak is red (unless the bird is blue, which will be bone-colored). It is native to Kenya and Tanzania and one of the lovebirds kept as pets. In addition, they live between 15 and 20 years.

Inseparable from Nyasa

The lilianae lovebird, or Lilian's lovebird, is native to eastern Africa and very similar to the fischer's lovebird. The only difference lies in the tonality of the face, which is more defined in terms of the colors red and orange. Also a characteristic of this type of bird is that it has no blue tail feathers. Its size is about 14 centimeters and it lives between 15 and 20 years.

Canus lovebird

It has many names: Malagasy inseparable, white-headed (or grey), Madagascar lovebird... Originally from this place, in Africa, it is a dark green and yellowish green bird, with the entire head and part of the chest white. Both its legs and its beak are flesh-colored and it does not measure more than 12-13 centimeters. It comes to live about 10-20 years.

Inseparable coiled

The lovebird Swindernianus only exists in central Africa and measures about 13 centimeters. They are green in color but have blue, red, black and yellow feathers. The most characteristic is a black collar that forms around the neck.

As a pet it is not usual to have it.

Taranta Lovebird

It is also known as the Abyssinian lovebird, black-winged lovebird, or red-fronted lovebird. Originally from Abyssinia (in Ethiopia), its size is about 16 centimeters. Unlike other lovebirds, this one is completely green with some yellow tones in the front area and on the head. As for the wings, they have black feathers. But what stands out the most is that the males have a red forehead on the face, that reaches to cover the eye. They also have a red beak.

Their life expectancy is 10-15 years and they are difficult animals to care for because they need a lot of space to fly.

Agapornis nigrigenis

It barely reaches 13 centimeters in size and its plumage is shades of green, although the part of the chest is orange and its head tends more to brown, with a white eye ring and an orange beak. It is one of the endangered lovebirds.

Agapornis pullarius

Characterized by having the green body and the entire face orange. It is not an easy bird to care for, in addition to the fact that its nests are created in termite mounds, hence reproduction cannot be carried out in captivity.

What do lovebirds eat?

For a lovebird to develop correctly, a varied diet is necessary. In captivity, the lovebird You cannot eat only seeds, pipes and other dry foods, it is necessary that you also have a wet ration, made up of fruits and vegetables.

The dry ration usually consists of white millet, which is mixed with pipes and other seeds that these animals can eat.

For its part, the wet ration must be fresh and daily. This can be composed of apple, pear, strawberries, tangerine, peach, banana... carrot, lettuce, spinach,...

They should never be given potatoes, avocados or aubergines, since they are toxic foods for them, just as happens, for example, with the leaves, pits or skin of peach, cherry or plum trees.

The reproduction of lovebirds

The reproduction of the lovebirds usually begins in the autumn, being the usual time between October and May. Once the lovebirds reach sexual maturity, they choose a partner, which will be forever. After a mating period, both the male and the female take care of creating a nest in which the female will deposit between 3 and 6 eggs, not at the same time, but one each day. Later, she will take care of incubating them together with the male.

Eggs should begin to hatch at 23-24 days, and from then on both the male and female will care for the young by providing warmth and food. past a few 40-50 days, they will begin to leave the nest and eat by themselves.