Not so Lovable Lovebirds

Everyone has heard of love birds but the common view that you have to have two in a cage is incorrect. In truth if you want a pet parrot to bond with you it has to be kept on its own in a cage or else it will ‘pair bond’ with the other parrot and won’t show any affection to you and they won’t remain tame. So to keep your Lovebird a tame and lovable pet you need to give it daily attention and keep it on its own.



Peach-faced Lovebird.



            Lovebirds like Lineolated Parakeet are ideal birds for the first time bird owner. They don’t need much space or time and Lovebirds tend to only live for about 10 years, a few have lived for almost 20 but these were extremely rare. Lovebirds are fearless, energetic, playful, and strong willed. Odd for Parrots Lovebirds don’t use their feet for playing, holding objects, or eating.

            Lovebirds are the smallest of Africa’s parrots and can be found in forests, scrub land and Savannah's. Their name comes from the fact that they are often seen cuddling in the wild but it is very miss leading since unless handled daily by all family members they will become aggressive and rarely do they get along with any other pets. Lovebirds are chatty little birds but despite being vocal they don’t often learn to speak. Occasionally they do learn to speak about 5-10 words but that is usually it.

Fischer's Lovebird.

 There are a couple species of Lovebirds and a few come in several colour mutations.



Masked Lovebird.

Peach-faced: also known as the Rosy-faced/headed Lovebird is the most commonly found species in captivity. They live for about 15 years and for such a small bird are full of personality. They usually weigh about 46-63 g and measure about 15 cm long.

Fischer’s: Fischer’s are curious, independent, active and quite Lovebirds. Fischer’s have an average life expectancy of 15-20 years and is the same size as the Peach-faced.

Masked: the Masked Lovebird is energetic, affectionate and playful but like all Lovebirds can be quite aggressive. Despite being smaller

than the earlier two, they are only 14.5 cm long and 43-50g in weight, the Masked Lovebird might be the longest living of the commonly kept Lovebirds with a life expectancy of 18-20 years.

Nyasa: the Nyasa, also called Lillian’s Lovebird, is the smallest Lovebird



Nyasa Lovebird.

 commonly kept as a pet. They are only 13.5cm with a weight of 28-37g. Nyasa’s

are relatively quiet and shy birds who would benefit from a gentle



Grey-headed Lovebird. Male has grey
head while female has green head.

 handler than the other Lovebirds.

Several other kinds of Lovebird exist but aren’t commonly found as pets. These include the:

Red faced who is also a quiet and shy bird who easily gets startled.

Black-cheeked Lovebirds are seldom seen in captivity.

Black-collared Lovebirds are little known in the wild and none can be found in captivity.

Black-winged Lovebirds are shy and reserved birds and are very rare to see in captivity.

Grey-headed Lovebirds are the only Lovebirds not found on the African main continent originating from Madagascar. They are also one of the few parrots to exhibit sexual dimorphism (a difference between the sexes). They are shy but active birds but are rare to find.

Red-faced Lovebird.



Black-winged Lovebirds.



Black-collared Lovebird.