Chapter 10 - AFRICAN LOVE BIRDS

(Genus Agapornis)

Love Birds are small birds of the Parrot family, barely exceeding 6 inches in length, with stout bills and short square tails.   Pairs are affectionate, and although some people believe that the death of one of a pair will cause the other to pine away, this is not true. A new mate will be just as ac­ceptable as the old. Even though pairs show affection to each other, this does not prevent them from being quarrel­some at times with other species as well as with their own kind, especially while nesting or when too many are confined in too small a cage. Love Birds should not be kept with birds smaller than themselves such as Finches, as it is easy for them to break a leg or wing of weaker birds. They take good care of themselves in mixed company, and can hold their own against much larger birds.

All Love Birds of the genus Agapornis are inhabitants of Africa, and a few adjacent islands such as Madagascar. Ten species are at present known to avicultural science, and al­though some have a very wide distribution, others are ex­tremely local in habitat. Their lifespan is from 8 to 10 years. The name Love Bird is sometimes erroneously given to the Australian Shell Grass Parrakeet, which is smaller with a long pointed tail, an entirely different genus.

There are still other small parrot-like birds wrongly called Love Birds, which come from South America, properly known as Parrot-lets, and are of still another genus. These are real miniature Parrots, smaller even than Love Birds (some are only 3 inches) having green, blue, yellow or red in their coloring.

SEXING: In some species of Love Birds, the sexes look alike; in others the hen differs from the cock, and is easily told apart. With species that look alike, the best method to distinguish sex is to hold two birds firmly in each hand. When looking down on them, the head of the cock will be observed to be wider across between the eyes than that of the hen. The head of the female also appears to be more elongated.

The ten Love Bird species, genus Agapornis known to science, can be divided into two types: one with a distinct white eye-ring, and the other without.

WITH BARE WHITE EYE-RING: Fischer's Love Bird, Agapornis  fischeri;  Black Masked  and Blue Masked,  Aga pornis personata; Black-cheeked Love Bird, Agapornis negri-gensis; Nyasaland or Nyasa Love Bird, Agapornis lilianae.

WITHOUT A BARE WHITE EYE-RING: Peach-faced Love Bird, Agapornis roseicollis; Abyssinian Love Bird, Aga­pornis taranta; Red-faced or West African Love Bird, Aga­pornis pullaria; Black-collared or Swindern's Love Bird, Aga­pornis swinderiana; Madagascar or Grey-headed Love Bird, Agapornis cana; Cameroons Black-collared Love Bird, Aga­pornis jenkeri.

.FISCHER'S LOVE BIRD (Top Left)-Forehead or frontal band orange-red.

Cheeks, throat, and hind neck, paler orange or old gold. Body green-lighter on the breast. Lower back dark blue. Tail, green tipped with blue. Bill, red. Conspicuous bare rings around the eyes.

MASKED LOVE BIRD (Top right)—Head and cheeks, black or brownish black. Upper breast and a collar round the back of the neck, yellow. Body, green-lighter en the breast. Bill, red. Eye rings or spectacles even more notice­able than in the Fischers on account of the darker color of the head. RED FACED LOVE BIRD (Center)-A rather smaller specie than the two former. It is bright green with brilliant - red face and cheeks. The rump is bright blue, the bill red and it is without pronounced eye rings. BLACK CHEEKED LOVE BIRD (Lower left)—Also a small species. Front of head, throat, and cheeks, brownish black. Rest of plumage mainly green, paler below and with an orange patch or bib on upper breast. Bill, red. Eye rings very noticeable. PEACH-FACED LOVE BIRD (Lower right)-The largest of the five depicted. The general coloring is light-green. The cheeks, face, and throat have a delicate peach-like coloring. The forehead is rosy red and there is a brilliant-blue patch on the rump. The tail is ornamented with red and black—more noticeable when expanded. Bill usually whitish or pale; eye rings absent.

NESTING

Love Birds like to build elaborate nests with straw, small twigs, fresh bark which they strip off branches, etc., in a hollow log or a nest box which should be 12 inches high, 6 inches wide, 6 inches deep, with an entrance hole 2 inches in diameter, near the top of the box. They are one of the few kinds of parrot-like birds which construct a nest in their nest box, or hole in a tree trunk in the wild. While in the nest, the hen passes pieces of straw or strips of bark, back and forth between her mandibles till they are soft and pli­able. They fill the nest box full of this material, and then make a curved entrance down to the bottom of the box, where the clutch of 4 to 7 eggs5 is laid. These are all white and slightly oblong.

The incubation period for Love Birds is from 18 to 24 days, depending on the species. It requires 4 to 5 weeks for the young to leave the nest. They will go to nest any month of the year. However, because of the danger from egg-binding in the hens during cold weather, it is best to start all species of Love Birds breeding late in March or early April, which will allow them to raise two or three nests of young by the end of October, when the nest boxes should be removed. During the cold months, they should be permitted to fly and recuperate from their breeding efforts. After taking down the nest boxes, thoroughly wash them out with hot water and strong soap. Almost all the various species of Love Birds will interbreed, when permitted. The crosses produce some pretty hybrids which are usually fertile. This policy is not advised, however, being all very similar in appearance. Fan­ciers want pure-bred birds of a distinct species. Young Love Birds should not be permitted to nest till at least 9 months old or better yet one year old. The breeding season in South Africa is different than ours.

Their spring corresponds to our fall. With Love Birds hatched in June or July, it is very doubtful if they will breed in that fall or even the fol­lowing spring. It will require the second fall season in Sep­tember for them to start. Many persons buy African Love Birds in the summer and want to breed them right away. This is mentioned so the prospective breeder should not blame the seller if his birds do not breed that year. They should be one year old for full sexual maturity.

FEEDING

All Love Birds require the same diet, consisting of equal parts of Sunflower seed, Canary seed, large Millet and Oats or Buckwheat Groats, Spray Millet can be supplied for a change. Another inexpensive and very nourishing food sup­plied with the regular seed diet, but in a separate dish, is an all-in-one chicken laying mash.   Bird gravel and crushed oyster shell has to be given also.

Fresh greens can consist of lettuce, sprouted oats, dande­lion, chickweed, etc. A little fruit can be given, such as halved orange, apple and pear stuck on perch holders. An occasional treat for them cut up in a dish, are cherries, grapes and berries. During the breeding period, and once a week in winter, Cod Liver Oil can be given at the rate of 1 teaspoonful mixed in a pint of seed. No greater part of Cod Liver than that should be offered, or the birds will run the risk of diarrhea. Also for feeding young, a slice of whole wheat bread soaked in fresh milk and squeezed dry, with a pinch of vitamin-mineral food supplement (obtainable in a Pet Shop) is very beneficial. The slice of bread should not be left in the cage all day in hot weather. Sometimes a fancier's Love Birds may suffer a Vitamin D deficiency and go light, when they hang on the cage netting with their bills and can fly but can't walk, just scuttling along on their chests. These afflicted birds recover the use of their legs if given Cod Liver Oil and Hemp Seed mixed into their regular mixture.

HOUSING

These birds should be kept in a cage where they can do some flying, at least 3 ft. long, 20 in. wide, 18 in. high. When kept in smaller cages, they just sit on their perch side by side, taking very little interest in their surroundings. In a large enough cage or aviary, they are very active and amus­ing in their antics. Their full beauty is only noticed when in flight.

PERCHES

Three-quarter inch wooden perches are suitable, but to keep them happily occupied and their beak in trim, a branch from a non-poisonous tree (such as fruit trees, willows, etc.) attached in their enclosure, will be appreciated.

BATHING

Although an odd bird may bathe in a shallow dish; all the species are very fond of rolling and playing in wet grass or lettuce as Parrakeets do.

PEACH-FACED LOVE BIRD (Agapornis roseicollis) HABITAT:   Southwest Africa.

COLOR: Body bright green, face and breast peach color. Bill flesh color. Rump bright blue, tail green with pink and blue markings.  Female similar, but colors slightly duller.

This is the largest of the Love Birds, and resembles the West African Love Bird. It is twice the size of the Nyasa-land. They are excellent breeders, and should be supplied with a slightly larger nest box than the others. The entrance hole should be about2V-2.inches in diameter. There is no white eye-ring in this species.

Yellow Peach Faced Love Bird. — This is a new color variety originated by Herman Ebert, Arcadia, Calif., in 1929. It began with the finding of one or two yellow feathers in the breast of a couple of fledglings raised from newly import­ed stock. These were linebred till a yellow strain was estab­lished with peach colored faces. The yellow color is in the fledglings when leaving the nest, as it has been inbred in them. Some Peach Faces develop yellow coloring after the birds are old, which is caused by liver trouble, but they never produce yellow young. The yellow-bodied birds do not pro­duce 100% yellow young. One nest may have three yellows and two normal green Peach Faces. These green ones in turn, will throw yellows.

Attempts are being made to produce White Peach Faces. A strain of these birds have been started having white feath­ers in the flights.

BLACK MASKED LOVE BIRD (Agapornis psrsonata) HABITAT:  Nyasaland, Africa.

COLOR: Body green, paler on abdomen. Entire head black with a brownish tinge. Yellow breast and collar behind neck. Bill red. In this species the female is somewhat larger than the male, and of the same coloring. Both have large bare white eye rings.

This bird has been developed by aviculturists, with a bluish head and distinct white eye-rings; an attractive muta­tion now well established and called Blue-Masked.

The Masked are one of the hardiest Love Birds for an outdoor aviary and are free breeders. The young emerge from the nest fully feathered, and in a few days they are hard to distinguish from the adults.

Size 1% times that of the Grass Parrakeet.

FISCHER'S LOVE BIRD (Agapornis fischeri). HABITAT:  Lake Victoria, Nyanza, Africa.

COLOR: Body bright green. Orange-red on forehead, paler orange on cheeks and throat. Olive-green on head and neck. Rump, blue. Bill, red. They also have a bare white eye-ring.   Sexes are alike.

The Fischer's is 25% larger than the Nyasaland. They are gregarious and happy when kept in flocks rather than in single pairs. This bird species was first known to avi­culture in 1926.  They are free breeders.

BLACK-CHEEKED LOVE BIRD (Agapornis nigrigensis).

HABITAT:   Northwestern Rhodesia, Africa.

COLOR: Body, green. Forehead, brown, merging into olive-green at back of head. Cheeks and throat, blackish, with a small patch of orange on upper breast. Bill, red. An attractive point is the distinct white eye-rings on the dark head. The female is the same; however, sex can be determined by examining the eyes which are different in male and fe­male. These are one of the smallest Love Birds, being the same size as the Nyasaland. They are free breeders, laying 4 to 6 eggs.

MADAGASCAR or GREY-HEADED LOVE BIRD (Aga­pornis cana).

HABITAT:   Madagascar.

COLOR: Male — Body, green; head, neck and upper breast, lavender-grey. Tail, green, barred with black in both sexes. Bill, horn color. The hen is all green. This species does not have an eye ring. This Love Bird is not as hardy as the others. They are quarrelsome when kept with other birds, and are not too easy to breed. Size about that of the Nyasaland.

NYASALAND or NYASA LOVE BIRD (Agapornis lilia-nae).

HABITAT: Nyasaland from Zambesi to the Loanga Val­ley, Africa.

COLOR: Body, bright green. Top and sides of head, cheeks and throat, bright reddish-orange. Back of head and neck, olive. Bill, red. The hen is similar but duller in coloring.
This is the smallest of the Love Birds with a bare white eye ring, and is the less quarrelsome among the Love Bird family.  Size, 1% times that of the Grass Parrakeet.

ABYSSINIAN LOVE BIRD (Agapornis taranta).

HABITAT:  Abyssinia.

COLOR: Male, bright green, with a scarlet forehead and bill. Female all green, and does not have a red forehead. There is no white eye ring in this species.

They are hardy, but difficult to breed unless aviary con­ditions are just right for them. Size about 25% larger than the Nyasaland.   They are very scarce in the United States.

RED-FACED or WEST AFRICAN LOVE BIRD (Aga­pornis pullaria).

HABITAT: Western Equatorial Africa.

COLOR: Body, bright green. Red-orange forehead, face and bill. Short tail banded with red and black. Female: face more orange, and the under wing-coverts are green, while on the male they are black. There is no white eye-ring in this species.
These Love Birds are delicate when first imported, but very hardy when acclimated. By purchasing them in early summer, they will have a chance to get acclimated if they are to be kept outdoors during cold weather. These birds get along well in a mixed collection, but are difficult to breed in confinement.

BLACK COLLARED or SWINDERN'S LOVE BIRD (Aga-pornis swinderiana).

HABITAT:  West Africa.

COLOR: Back and top of head, green. Throat, breast and abdomen, yellow. Tail green with a broad red horizontal bar. On the back of the neck is a black bar. They don't have a white eye ring.

Very little is known of this species, as they are rare and difficult to breed. Size same as Masked.

CAMEROONS BLACK COLLARED LOVE BIRD (Aga-pornis jenkeri).

HABITAT:   Cameroons, West Africa.

COLOR: Head and back, green. Cheeks, breast and ab­domen, yellow. Tail, green with a broad red horizontal bar. Back of neck has a red and black bar. They don't have a white eye ring. Little is known of this species which is rare and difficult to breed.   Size of Masked Love Bird.

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