Post by Smiley on Mar 7, 2008 5:14:57 GMT -5
With permission smileysbirds.proboards26.com/index.cgi
The Common Species
Peachfaced Love Bird (Agapornis roseicollis)
Masked Love Bird (Agapornis personata)
Fischer's Love Bird (Agapornis fischeri)
The Rares
Nyasa Love Bird (Agapornis lilianae)
Black-Cheeked Love Bird (Agapornis nigrigenis)
Madagascar Love Bird (Agapornis cana)
Abyssinian Love Bird (Agapornis taranta)
Red-faced Love Bird (Agapornis Pullaria)
Black-Collared Love Bird (Agapornis Swindernia)
Eight of these species originate on the African continent, with the ninth coming from the island of Madagascar.
There are many colour mutations found in peach faced lovebirds and several mutations in some of the other species, so there are many colour variations of lovebirds available. There are two basic colours, red and green series.
Size:
Lovebirds are small, compact parrots about 5-6 inches in length.
Expected Life Span: Up to 15 years or more.
Temperament:
Lovebirds are social, noisy birds that emit a high pitched and sometimes annoying chirps. They are constant chatterers and noise is a sign of contentment. The Peach faced is particularly outgoing, even aggressive, and is often territorial. This species is not suitable for life in a colony, unless lots of space is provided, as birds may attack each other viciously. However, the Peachfaced's outgoing personality makes it well suited to human contact. As long as Peach faced birds are given regular attention and interaction with their owner they can be kept individually or as pairs in cages inside the house. Hand-raised birds make particularly good pets. Like most parrots, lovebirds are reasonably intelligent and can be excellent escape artists so they need a secure cage. They also like to chew and must always have something to nibble on such as non toxic and untreated pieces of wood, cuttlefish, bamboo, tree branches.
As a general rule, they are not known for their ability to mimic speech or sounds, although there are exceptions. One of my guys could talk but not very well.
Feeding:
Lovebirds should be fed a variety of foods, as they will eat just about anything. A varied diet should be offered, Lovebird mix, Cockatiel or Small Parrot seed mixes, fruit, and vegetable.
Cages:
As a bare minimum, I would recommend a cage at least 2 feet wide by 2 feet long (and 2 feet tall), but a larger cage is definitely better (with the length being relatively more important than the height). Bars should be no more than 1/2 to 5/8 inches apart, Avoid round cages. Provide a variety of perch sizes (including natural branches if possible), as this is healthier for a caged bird's feet.
Toys:
Lovebirds are quite aggressive chewers, which must be kept in mind when choosing toys. Make sure there are no small parts that can be chewed off and ingested, and no clips, loose strings, or other parts in which your bird could get its beak, feet, or head trapped. Safe toys include wood, sisal, vegetable tanned leather, acrylic, and rawhide toys (including hanging toys as long as they are not long enough to strangle your bird), bells, and ladders. As well, household items such as paper cups; your lovebird may also use ink-free and lead free cardboard, and dried pasta shapes. Lovebirds are very active and playful so it is a good idea to have lots of toys on hand to rotate through the cage to keep them occupied.
Breeding:
Breeding age is at least 10 months of age. Birds older than 5 to 6 years should be retired from breeding. Also remember that lovebirds don't always pair up male and female, sometimes a male and male will pair and sometimes a female and female will pair. If a female does lay eggs, they will be infertile, obviously males don't lay eggs J. If this happens, separate the pair
and get new mates. But don’t just let a new mate in the cage, slowing introducing is recommended. By placing then into a cage beside each other for a few weeks.
Peach face are the easiest of all the lovebirds to breed so naturally almost anything will satisfy a nesting hen. The mostly commonly used nesting materials are wood shavings, newspaper, grass, straw, and paper bark, palm Fronds, lead free cardboard. Additional material should be made available through out nesting period as the hen will replenish the nest at regular intervals and the added material will help maintain humidity.
All kinds of nest boxes are suitable for lovebirds, ranging from hollowed out logs to square timber nest box. A good average size for lovebirds is a box with a dimension of 25cm high, 20 cm wide and 15 cm deep. The box should be constructed out of timber at least 2 cm thick, which will stand up to the whittling activities of the birds and to retain temperature.
Four to six eggs are the average number in a clutch, being laid on alternate days. The hen will not usually start to incubate in earnest until the second or third egg is laid. The hen does all of the incubating but the cock will feed the hen during the day and roost with her at night. The incubation period is about 23 days. Young fledge as early as 6 weeks and latter, seven or eight weeks and will return to the nest box at night.
The Common Species
Peachfaced Love Bird (Agapornis roseicollis)
Masked Love Bird (Agapornis personata)
Fischer's Love Bird (Agapornis fischeri)
The Rares
Nyasa Love Bird (Agapornis lilianae)
Black-Cheeked Love Bird (Agapornis nigrigenis)
Madagascar Love Bird (Agapornis cana)
Abyssinian Love Bird (Agapornis taranta)
Red-faced Love Bird (Agapornis Pullaria)
Black-Collared Love Bird (Agapornis Swindernia)
Eight of these species originate on the African continent, with the ninth coming from the island of Madagascar.
There are many colour mutations found in peach faced lovebirds and several mutations in some of the other species, so there are many colour variations of lovebirds available. There are two basic colours, red and green series.
Size:
Lovebirds are small, compact parrots about 5-6 inches in length.
Expected Life Span: Up to 15 years or more.
Temperament:
Lovebirds are social, noisy birds that emit a high pitched and sometimes annoying chirps. They are constant chatterers and noise is a sign of contentment. The Peach faced is particularly outgoing, even aggressive, and is often territorial. This species is not suitable for life in a colony, unless lots of space is provided, as birds may attack each other viciously. However, the Peachfaced's outgoing personality makes it well suited to human contact. As long as Peach faced birds are given regular attention and interaction with their owner they can be kept individually or as pairs in cages inside the house. Hand-raised birds make particularly good pets. Like most parrots, lovebirds are reasonably intelligent and can be excellent escape artists so they need a secure cage. They also like to chew and must always have something to nibble on such as non toxic and untreated pieces of wood, cuttlefish, bamboo, tree branches.
As a general rule, they are not known for their ability to mimic speech or sounds, although there are exceptions. One of my guys could talk but not very well.
Feeding:
Lovebirds should be fed a variety of foods, as they will eat just about anything. A varied diet should be offered, Lovebird mix, Cockatiel or Small Parrot seed mixes, fruit, and vegetable.
Cages:
As a bare minimum, I would recommend a cage at least 2 feet wide by 2 feet long (and 2 feet tall), but a larger cage is definitely better (with the length being relatively more important than the height). Bars should be no more than 1/2 to 5/8 inches apart, Avoid round cages. Provide a variety of perch sizes (including natural branches if possible), as this is healthier for a caged bird's feet.
Toys:
Lovebirds are quite aggressive chewers, which must be kept in mind when choosing toys. Make sure there are no small parts that can be chewed off and ingested, and no clips, loose strings, or other parts in which your bird could get its beak, feet, or head trapped. Safe toys include wood, sisal, vegetable tanned leather, acrylic, and rawhide toys (including hanging toys as long as they are not long enough to strangle your bird), bells, and ladders. As well, household items such as paper cups; your lovebird may also use ink-free and lead free cardboard, and dried pasta shapes. Lovebirds are very active and playful so it is a good idea to have lots of toys on hand to rotate through the cage to keep them occupied.
Breeding:
Breeding age is at least 10 months of age. Birds older than 5 to 6 years should be retired from breeding. Also remember that lovebirds don't always pair up male and female, sometimes a male and male will pair and sometimes a female and female will pair. If a female does lay eggs, they will be infertile, obviously males don't lay eggs J. If this happens, separate the pair
and get new mates. But don’t just let a new mate in the cage, slowing introducing is recommended. By placing then into a cage beside each other for a few weeks.
Peach face are the easiest of all the lovebirds to breed so naturally almost anything will satisfy a nesting hen. The mostly commonly used nesting materials are wood shavings, newspaper, grass, straw, and paper bark, palm Fronds, lead free cardboard. Additional material should be made available through out nesting period as the hen will replenish the nest at regular intervals and the added material will help maintain humidity.
All kinds of nest boxes are suitable for lovebirds, ranging from hollowed out logs to square timber nest box. A good average size for lovebirds is a box with a dimension of 25cm high, 20 cm wide and 15 cm deep. The box should be constructed out of timber at least 2 cm thick, which will stand up to the whittling activities of the birds and to retain temperature.
Four to six eggs are the average number in a clutch, being laid on alternate days. The hen will not usually start to incubate in earnest until the second or third egg is laid. The hen does all of the incubating but the cock will feed the hen during the day and roost with her at night. The incubation period is about 23 days. Young fledge as early as 6 weeks and latter, seven or eight weeks and will return to the nest box at night.