Animal-World > Pet Birds > Lovebirds > All about Lovebirds

   Lovebirds are some of the most fascinating little parrots! They are active, cheerful and beautifully decorative!

   These petite 'pocket parrots' are very intriguing! Though lovebirds are not going to learn a lot of tricks or necessarily want to have a lot of handling, they are very flamboyant, very social with both their keepers and their mate, and are wonderful birds to observe and enjoy.

   Lovebirds are very suited to captivity. Not only do they have a good disposition, these charming, brilliantly colored little pets are very hardy and easy to care for. They can also provide you with a successful breeding experience.

Description:
   The lovebird is a small stocky parrot between 5.1-6.7 inches (13-17 cm). They have a large bill and a tail that is either round or square. Their average life span is between 10-12 years with some living even longer. The oldest recorded lovebird lived 17 years, and we have had one person state that their lovebird has lived for 25 years.
   The different species of lovebird are identifiable by their colors and markings. They vary greatly in their coloring, and each species can be viewed for their unique combinations. Younger birds are duller in color and they have black in their beaks. The young birds coloring intensifies as they reach maturity. Regardless of the species, mature lovebirds are gorgeous parrots!

Distribution:
   All lovebirds are native to Africa except the Grey-headed lovebird which comes from the island of Madagascar.

Care and feeding:
      Most lovebirds love a bath either in a flat earthenware dish or by spraying them with a light mist of lukewarm water. If you use a bathing dish, you will see the birds perch on the edge and dip their heads and upper bodies in the water and beating their wings. They prefer this kind of bath to getting into the water.
   Lovebirds generally maintain their nails and beaks on their own through climbing and chewing. Another good use they make of their tree branches.
   In the wild, lovebirds feed on seeds, berries, fruits, grains, grasses, leaf buds, and agricultural crops of corn, maize and figs.
   Foods available for Lovebirds include formulated diets, either pelleted or extruded, seed only diets, and small parrot mixes which offer a mixture of both. There are pros and cons to feeding only a formulated diet as well as feeding only a seed diet. A formulated diet provides a good nutritional base so does not require the addition of vitamins, however many parrots become bored with it due to the lack of variety. A seed only diet offers much more variety but requires additional vitamin and calcium supplements. Lovebirds need not only nutritional requirements met but also variety for psychological enrichment.
   A lovebirds's diet will consist of 1 1/2 to 2 ounces (45-60 grams) of feed daily for a single bird. A diet consisting of a small parrot mix along with a variety of supplements and vitamins is generally regarded as suitable; also a formulated diet along with greens, fruits, and vegetable supplements but without additional vitamins is also regarded as suitable, and is a more current trend.
   Supplements include fresh vegetables, greens, tree branches for the bark, some fruits, and millet spray. Some of the fruit supplements include berries, apples, grapes, pears, bananas, and kiwi. Some of the greens and vegetable supplements include spinach, endive, watercress, chickweed, radish, parsley, dandelions, carrot tops, corn on the cob, peas, endive, field lettuce, and various garden herbs. Additional proteins can be offered such as nuts, try some unshelled peanuts as well as hazelnuts, walnuts, Brazil nuts, and chestnuts. Vitamins can be added to the food or drinking water. A cuttlebone, or gravel and oyster shell in a separate dish can be offered to provide calcium. Do not feed avocado as it can be toxic to birds!
   Their food and water dishes are best if earthenware or porcelain as they will get gnawed if plastic. Lovebirds drink a lot of water, so will need fresh drinking water every day.

Housing:
   Lovebirds are very active birds, so a cage best suited to adequately house them must provide a lot of space. A minimum of 32 x 20 x 20 (81 x 50 x 50 cm) per pair of birds is recommended with about four perches, feed and water dishes and an area for a bath. When you use a small cage, you must let your pet out daily to fly around.
   If you are housing pairs of lovebirds here are a few guidelines: Try to house only one species of lovebird as mixing species can cause serious fights. House either one pair of lovebirds or three pairs, never two pairs or there will be fighting. Each pair needs about 35 cubic feet of space.
  A roomy indoor aviary, a bird room, or an outdoor aviary (depending on your area) are all good choices. The aviary needs plenty of light and fresh air. The outdoor aviary needs to have a protected shelter that can be heated and cooled where necessary. Flights are recommended to be a minimum of 6' x 6' x 3' (183 x 183 x 91 cm) with plenty of perches or branches at least 1 1/2" (15 cm) thick.
   Lovebirds like special resting places. Nest boxes placed up high, all at the same level and all of the same type work well and help prevent fights. A nest box for a lovebird is 8" x 8" x 8" (20 x 20 x 20 cm) or 10" x 6" x 6" (25 x 15 x 15 cm).

Maintenance:
   The basic cage care includes daily cleaning of the water and food dishes. Weekly you should clean and disinfect the cage. Wash and completely dry the perches and toys whenever they become soiled. Sand floors should be renewed annually.

Social Behaviors:
   Lovebirds are very social birds. Generally is thought that it is essential for their good health and happiness that they be kept in pairs, not singly. If you have a single lovebird, you must provide the necessary social interaction that it is missing from another bird. These birds develop fierce loyalties to their keeper or their mate.
   Aside from their social nature toward you or their mate, they can be extremely aggressive towards other birds. You must be certain that all pairs get along together, and that they are true "pairs", not mismatched. Bonded pairs constantly groom each other and will feed each other from the crop during breeding season and all year round.
   These little birds will chatter all day long. They will hide in their nest box if they are startled by a sudden noise, if they spot a potential predator, or if it gets cold and windy.

Handling/Training:
   To have a tame lovebird, choose a young single bird. Young birds have an amazing ability to learn tricks and be affectionate, whereas adults are very difficult to tame and generally won't learn a lot of tricks or imitate behaviors. Hand-raised youngsters are easiest as they are already quite socialized and tame, but are not always available.
   Taming involves acceptance and trust between you and your bird. It means spending a lot of time with your bird daily. Start with talking softly and making slow movements. Once your bird is comfortable with you, then you can begin hand-taming. Use a dowel and push it gently against the birds chest while offering a treat to coax it up onto the dowel. This may take many tries. Once it is comfortable with stepping up onto a dowel, substitute your finger for the dowel.
   Lovebirds are not considered one of the best talkers, and only some may learn a few words.

Activities:
   Lovebirds awaken with the dawn, get a drink, eat, and then immediately begin to chirp. They will generally quiet down by mid-morning and resume their chirping in the late afternoon.
   These birds are very active, flying and climbing about, gnawing on wood or chew toys, and grooming themselves many times all day. They love toys of all kinds such as seed bells, swings, ladders, mirrors, shiny objects, and wooden gnaws. A lovebird outside of it's cage will not stay on it's playpen, they like to explore. Be sure this room is safe with no open doors or windows, no toxic plants, no open water containers, and no hot stove.

Breeding/Reproduction:
   One of the pleasures of lovebirds is that they are easy to breed. Each pair of birds will need 2 nest boxes for sleeping and nesting. These boxes need to be of the same type and size, and placed at the same height on the same wall. Lovebirds will breed willingly as single pairs and some species of lovebirds can be bred in a colony setting, especially suited to this is the white eye-ring group of lovebirds. If you are breeding in a colony setting, it is very important to provide many more nest boxes than their are pairs of birds to minimize fighting. The nest boxes should all be the same and mounted at the same height of the enclosure. Also, be diligent in watching for fighting as it can lead to death.
  The female will lay about 5 eggs, though the clutch could be as few as 3 eggs or as many as 8 eggs. The incubation period is 22 - 25 days, with 75% to 80% of the eggs hatching. The hen will start to brood after the second egg is hatched. Often the male will join the hen in the nest. The chicks will begin to leave the nest in about 38 - 50 days and will be independent about 2 weeks after leaving the nest.

The sexing of lovebirds falls into three categories:

1. The first group are different in their outward appearance and can be classified as dimorphic. This first group consists of the Abyssinian Lovebird (Agapornis toranta), the Madagascar Lovebird (Agapornis cana), and the Red-faced Lovebird (Agapornis pullaria).
2. The second or intermediate group are harder to differentiate by appearance. This second group consists of the Peach-faced Lovebird (Agapornis reseicollis) and the Black-collared Lovebird (Agapornis swinderniana).
3. In the third group, the white eye-ring group, there are no definite differences that can be seen. In the white eye-ring group are the Nyasa Lovebird (Agapornis personata lilianae), the Black-cheeked Lovebird (Agapornis personata nigrigenis), the Fischer's Lovebird (Agapornis personata fisheri), and the Masked Lovebird (Agapornis personata personata). The sexing of the white eye-ring group must be determined by either a surgical probe, endoscopy, which can be done by many veterinarians or by a DNA testing, usually a blood sample or a few plucked feathers sent to be diagnosed in a lab.

   Some visual characteristics that may aid in determining sex are that the female is heavier bodied than the male and will sit more broadly with legs apart, while the males sit more upright. A females tail will appear more square while a males will appear more rounded. When observing the nesting behavior, the female will do most of the nest building work.
   An anal inspection can be done but takes experience in sexing these birds to make a fair determination. Basically there are two bones called the ossa pubes on the ventral side of the pelvis and the female will be spread wider apart than the male.

Problems:
   Signs of illness to be aware of are if a bird seems withdrawn, feathers are ruffled and the plumage is dull, sits with its eyes closed, watery or dull eyes, runny nose, sleeps a lot, looses interest in its environment and stays at its feed cup. The droppings may change color and be loose (if healthy they are grayish white and not to thin). Also a lot of tail bobbing, dropping off it's perch, odd breathing, sneezing, and excessive scratching.
  Some of the common illnesses your lovebirds could contract are injuries from fighting, Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease, Polyoma Virus Infection, yeast infections (Candidiasis), Avian Pox Virus Infection, bacterial infections, internal parasites, mites, ticks, egg binding, intestinal influenza, coccidiosis, respiratory ailments, and diarrhea. An ailing parrot should be taken to a avian veterinarian for diagnosis and treatment.

Availability:
   The most available species of lovebird are the Peach-faced Lovebird , the Masked Lovebird, the Fischer's Lovebird, and many of their beautiful mutations. Many other species of lovebird are available but not be as readily found. Lovebirds are also fairly inexpensive little parrots.