Lovebird is the not unusualplace call for the genus Agapornis, a small institution of parrots withinside the Old World parrot own circle of relatives Psittaculidae. Of the 9 species withinside the genus, 8 are local to the African continent, with the grey-headed lovebird being local to Madagascar.
Social and affectionate, the call comes from the parrots' strong, monogamous pair bonding and the lengthy intervals which paired birds spend sitting collectively.
Lovebirds stay in small flocks and consume fruit, vegetables, grasses, and seeds. Black-winged lovebirds additionally consume bugs and figs, and black-collared lovebirds have a unique nutritional requirement for local figs, making them difficult to maintain in captivity.
Some species are stored as pets, and numerous colored mutations had been selectively bred in aviculture. The common lifespan is 20 to 30 years.
Description
Lovebirds are in length, as much as 24 cm in wingspan with nine cm for a unmarried wing and in weight. They are a number of the smallest parrots, characterized through a stocky build, a brief blunt tail, and a distinctly large, sharp beak. Wildtype lovebirds are frequently inexperienced with numerous hues on their top body, relying at the species. The Fischer's lovebird, black-cheeked lovebird, and the masked lovebird have a distinguished white ring round their eyes. Many shade mutant sorts had been produced through selective breeding of the species which can be famous in aviculture.
Taxonomy
The genus Agapornis changed into brought through the English naturalist Prideaux John Selby in 1836. The call combines the Ancient Greek αγάπη agape meaning "love" and όρνις ornis meaning "bird". The kind species is the black-collared lovebird . The genus incorporates 9 species of which 5 are monotypic and 4 are divided into subspecies. They are local to mainland Africa and the island of Madagascar. In the wild, the distinct species are separated geographically.
Traditionally, lovebirds are divided into 3 groups:
the sexually dimorphic species: Madagascar, Abyssinian, and red-headed lovebird
the intermediate species: peach-confronted lovebird
the white-eye-ringed species: masked, Fischer's, Lilian's, and black-cheeked lovebirds
However, this department isn't always absolutely supported through phylogenetic studies, because the species of the dimorphic institution aren't grouped collectively in a unmarried clade.
Species and subspecies:
Rosy-confronted lovebird, Agapornis roseicollis, —or peach-confronted lovebird
Agapornis roseicollis catumbella, B.P. Hall, 1952
Agapornis roseicollis roseicollis,
Yellow-collared lovebird, Agapornis personatus, Reichenow, 1887—or masked lovebird
Fischer's lovebird, Agapornis fischeri, Reichenow, 1887
Lilian's lovebird, Agapornis lilianae, Shelley, 1894—or Nyasa lovebird
Black-cheeked lovebird, Agapornis nigrigenis, W.L. Sclater, 1906
Grey-headed lovebird, Agapornis canus, —or Madagascar lovebird
Agapornis canus ablectaneus, Bangs, 1918
Agapornis canus canus,
Black-winged lovebird, Agapornis taranta, —or Abyssinian lovebird
Red-headed lovebird, Agapornis pullarius, —or red-confronted lovebird
Agapornis pullarius pullarius,
Agapornis pullarius ugandae, Neumann, 1908
Black-collared lovebird, Agapornis swindernianus, —or Swindern's lovebird
Agapornis swindernianus emini, Neumann, 1908
Agapornis swindernianus swindernianus,
Agapornis swindernianus zenkeri, Reichenow, 1895
Species
Nesting
Depending at the species of lovebird, the lady will bring nesting cloth into the nest in diverse ways. The peach-confronted lovebird tucks nesting cloth withinside the feathers of its rump, whilst the masked lovebird contains nesting cloth returned in its beak. Once the lovebirds begin building their nest, mating will observe. During this time, the lovebirds will mate repeatedly. Eggs observe three–five days later. The lady will spend hours inner her nesting container earlier than eggs are laid. Once the primary egg is laid, a brand new egg will observe each different day till the seize is complete, normally at 4 to 6 eggs. Even with out a nest or a male, lovebirds now and again produce eggs.
Feral populations
Feral populations of Fischer's lovebirds and masked lovebirds stay in towns of East Africa. There are interspecific hybrids that exist among those species. The hybrid has a reddish-brown head and orange on top chest, however in any other case resembles the masked lovebird.
Feral lovebirds had been discovered in lots of elements of the Southwestern United States, together with Arizona and Texas. Several species also are discovered in feral populations in Southern California.
Around Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, a model regionally known as an African Lovebird has an competitive breeding nature. In an aviary with smaller birds, it's far not unusualplace to locate different smaller species decapitated overnight. The surviving associate additionally succumbs inside three weeks.
There are feral colonies gift withinside the Pretoria region in South Africa. They likely originated from birds that escaped from aviaries.
