Fischer’s Lovebirds

Fischer's lovebirds are more sociable and tolerant than the Masked and better behaved with other birds

Description

Fischer’s Lovebirds body plumage is mainly green, darker on the back, wings and tail, lighter and more yellowish on the under parts.

The forehead, face and throat are orange-red; the collar and upper breast are yellow to yellow-orange. The under wing converts are blue-green; the rump and upper tail coverts are blue. The tail is green with some yellow in the laterals, and sub terminal black and terminal blue bands. The eye-ring is white. The bill is red, the legs and feet grey. The sexes are alike.

Mutations

Reports have come from California of a blue Fischer's. It is said to have sky blue plumages and a White-Grey head. Yellow Fischer's are rare; they are genetically recessive.

Range

The Fischer’s Lovebird is native of northern Tanzania.

Status

They are usually inhabitant of clumps of trees surrounded by grassy plains and isolated shrubs. They were first bred in the United States in 1926.

Avicultural rating

A popular and widely-kept aviculturist subject, they are hardy and easily managed and free breeders.

Social Behavior

The male Fischer's Lovebirds have a tendency to pluck chicks in the nest. In the wild condition, we can appreciate a large colony of birds especially while feeding in the crop fields.

The Fischer’s lovebirds are widely accepted through out the world for rearing inside the home. Take care to acquire good, thorough bred specimens with clear, bright colors.

Peach Faced Lovebirds

Peach faced Lovebirds can over winter in an unheated shelter. There is no special food for breeding; just make sure dandelion, chickweed or lettuces are always available. Sprouting millet spray is especially good.

Usually peach faced Lovebirds males will be green. Brow, head, neck and throat are pink in color. Rump is bright blue in color. Beak- flesh colored. But females are bigger and paler in its head.

Peach-faced Lovebirds inhabit the dry areas on the fringes of deserts. But generally they will be very near to the watering place. During the off-season of breeding they will move in flocks making a loud 'tsick-tsick' noise. They are fond of all kinds of berries.

In wild the nesting behavior is noticed in decayed tree trunks or take over nests abandoned by the Colonial Sparrow or Mahali Weaver. All three species will live together without infighting.

Peach faced Lovebirds are always available through the trade at a very attractive price. Even imported birds are hardy.

A single peach faced lovebird is perfect fit for keeping in the house. It quickly becomes tame and attaches itself to its owner. However, only undertake to keep your Peach-faced Lovebird in the room with you if you can bear its harsh voice, which is hardly ever silent.

Peach-faced Lovebirds are ready to breed in all seasons in your garden, if they maintained in pairs. As you think sexing of Lovebirds is not an easy task. Females have their feet much farther apart than the males; they are also larger.

When the peach-faced Lovebirds are ready for breeding (6-9 months age), you can feel their pelvic bones. In males, they are virtually touching, whereas in females they are far apart- you can feel a small space between them.

Introduce several young in an aviary at one time to build a good breeding population. It is not at all advisable to introduce new birds in with an old pair as this always leads to fights.

Breeding

The female bird always picks up the small barks to form nest linings. They always prefer to carry the small barks of lime trees, birches or willow, are normally 6-8 cm long and carried five or seven at a time by the female to the nest.

The built up nest would be dome shaped. The entrance is at the top, on one side, only the rear wall behind being left fairly open. For this reason, it is good idea to make the back of your nest box removable for inspection during incubation.

The female peach-faced Lovebird lays 3-5 eggs and incubates it for twenty-two days. The young ones have born featherless and able to fly away from the nest within five or six weeks. The father feeds them for the next two weeks because the female lays eggs again straight away.

As soon as the young become independent, it is wise to remove from the flock, or otherwise the parents could attack them. Try to avoid more than three broods a year.

General Management

Peach-faced Lovebirds are not suitable for colony-system housing. It is best to keep single pairs in small aviaries 6x6x3 ft is suitable, although excellent results had been recorded in aviaries of half these dimensions.

Peach-faced Lovebirds are spiteful with other birds, and have noisy, penetrating calls. They are hardy birds and do best in unheated indoor accommodation when not breeding in the winter. As bottom line, peach-faced Lovebirds are not only perfect fit for your garden but also your aviary.

Sexing Lovebirds- a Herculean task?

Lovebirds are a group of miniature parrots with short square tails. Their main cloring is green with some orange and yellow feathers in the tail. The head coloring varies with the species of which there are quite a few. Sexing the lovebirds is difficult for aviculturist. Here are the few tips to perform the sexing the lovebirds without undue stress to the birds--

Few tips for sexing your lovebirds
1. Pelvic area is wider in breeding hens than in cocks
2. Spread between feet of hen when perching is up to 1 cm greater than that of cock.
3. Hen only carries nesting materials.
4. Total lack of breeding activities indicates keeping of same sex birds.
5. Usually females are heavier and sturdier in build.
6. Intense coloring is observed among males. (In animals/birds, male are usually pretty)
7. Female birds always bite vigorously than males.

Confirmed method of sexing lovebirds
Although no traditional method is available for sexing a lovebird, DNA sexing is the perfect method to get 100 percent accuracy.

Get to Know Red Faced Lovebird ( Agapornis pullaria)

Range : Sierra Leone, Cameroons, Northern Angola, Uganda and Rwanda.

Status: Variable, but believed to be abundant in certain areas of the range.

Characteristics: It is 14 cm long.

Male Red-faced lovebirds are green in color,crimpson from top of head,across cheeks to upper throat, rump blue, undertail converts black, beak red.

Female lovebirds possesses paler red head, undertail converts green. Young- brow and surrounding area yellowish; beak pale red. Young males in the nest already show black undertail converts.

After World War II, Red-faced Lovebirds were quite common and reasonably priced;

Their choice of nesting in the wild is peculiar, as they mostly prefer termite mounds or the nests of tree ants. The tree ants’ nest resembles sponges because they are constructed out of leaves, which the ants have chewed into holes. The Red-faced lovebirds dig their way into these structures or termite nests without attacked by the ants. They usually lay five to seven eggs and incubation is 20-24 days. Always provide willow or apple twigs for stripping.

General management

Red-faced lovebirds have very rarely been bred in captivity because of the peculiarity of their nest site. Peat-filled boxes or barrels, and cork blocks have all been used in captive breeding. The birds excavate a tunnel or chamber in the selected site for laying eggs. A secluded outdoor aviary may suit in the summer.

Young birds are very suitable for cages. As single birds, they grow very tame and only ever make a chirping, songbird-like noise.

They are nervous and highly-strung; so house them in a quiet situation. Colony groups in suitable aviaries are feasible. They are delicate birds and do best in slight heat (4⁰ C) in winter.

Lovebird Taxonomy

Class : Aves

Order: Psittaciformis

Family: Psittacidae

Genus : Agapornis

Different Types of Lovebirds

Lovebirds are very popular and prolific. There are different types of lovebirds. They do not need a lot of space and many are very pretty. Some, however, have very vicious tempers and have been known to bite off other birds’ toes.

Lovebirds have quiet voices, some species merely chirping like songbirds, but are not usually able to mimic. Sexing is easy with some species, difficult with others. In mature birds in breeding condition, the pelvic bones are a few millimeters apart in females but almost touching in males.

Origin and Habit

The lovebirds are usually originated from Africa, including the Malagasy Republic.

Lovebirds live partly in bushy or woodland regions, but also partly in the plains and sandy regions, including mountainous areas up to 3000 meters.

They are very agile, hopping and scrambling among the branches, and also clever on the ground. During breeding, they keep in pairs; otherwise they live in small groups.

Lovebirds build their nests in hollow trees, some species preferring a domed nest, others merely a cup-shaped nest. Some lovebirds choose the nest of other birds, and others use termite mounds. They line them in bark, pieces of leaves and reeds, transported in their beaks or among their plumage. They feed on seeds, berries and fruits of all kinds.

Different Types of Lovebirds

In the world there are nearly nine types of lovebirds. They are as follows:-

1. Orange-headed love bird/Red faced lovebird – Native of Azole/Ethopia.
2. Grey-headed love bird/Lavender headed love bird- Native of Madagascar Island.
3. Black-winged love bird/ Mountain Parrot/ Abyssinian- Native of Ethopia.
4. Black collared love bird/ Liberian love bird/ Swinderns- Native of Zaire and Liberia
5. Peach faced love birds/ Rose headed love bird- Native of Australia, Africa and Angole
6. Black marked love bird/ yellow colored love bird- Native of Tanzania
7. Fischers lovebird – Native of Tanzania
8. Nyasa land love bird / Lillians lovebird / Strawberry head lovebird- Native of Zambia and Melawi.
9. Black faced love bird / Black checkered lovebird- Native of Zambia.
   

Many types of lovebirds fetch about the same price. Lovebirds that are not imported or bred in great quantities are, of course, more expensive. Some types of lovebirds, which used to be common, are now rarely offered for sale. This is due partly to the cost of expeditions and partly to an export ban by certain African States. Several color mutations have been bred and more will probably arise in due course.

Why Lovebirds are Called So?

It is an accepted fact that much information is available on various species of mammals but not with birds especially lovebirds. It is also equally true that specific technical information is highly lacking with particular species of bird, despite the frequent and common encountering of such birds by bird lovers or aviary owners.Before knowing the lovebirds care, it is essential to know about why lovebirds are called so?

In these circumstances, there is need to bring to limelight some salient features pertaining to captive reared lovebirds and in this regard, this blog was chosen and useful technical information are gathered which will be of highly useful not only for veterinarians but also for common people or aviary owners who rear such beautiful birds.

They are called as lovebirds because they sit together on a perch, preen each other and generally behave in a loving manner; however, it is to be remembered that most lovebirds are notoriously aggressive towards other birds and towards non-familiar member of their own species. Hence take more caution during introduction of new birds to existing stock in cage or aviaries and hence, the name may even be a misnomer!

Get to Know Lovebirds

Lovebirds, the second smallest species of parrots are considered to be a best hobby in this world. There is a need to know about the pet lovebirds, different things they perform, and what to do if it becomes sick.

Healthy Signs of Pet Lovebird

• Active and alert.
• Eats through out the day.
• Smooth and clean feathers
• Clear and bright eyes.
• Droppings with no change in consistency.

These high energy birds do require excess space to spend the excess energy. Good bit of chirping is noticed in most of the lovebirds. As they're not good cuddlers or talkers, they can't be trained for talking. But basic tricks can be taught easily.