Understanding Black-Cheeked Lovebird

Generally black-cheeked lovebirds are 14.5 cm long. The male and females are having dark brown upper head and cheeks. The rear of head and sides of throat are yellow-green. The younger birds are duller in color. Both the sexes possess white eye ring with red beak.

Black-cheeked lovebirds are inhabitant of Northen Zimbabwe.

Now-a-days black-cheeked lovebirds becomes very rare. Pure breeds bear no black color on the head.

These lovebirds are smaller than Nyasas. Moreover they can be sexed unlile other lovebirds. They are friendly towards their own kind and other birds. Sometimes you can get three yields (three broods) per year.

Substantial losses are observed among these birds when these birds are kept below 15 degrees celcius. Sometimes black-cheeked lovebirds can tolerate a few degrees of frost also. Yellow and Lutino of these kind of lovebirds are very rare unlike Nysaa.

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.