Lovebirds (Agapornis)
Lifespan : Approximately up to 20 years
Size : 4-7 in., 50 grams
Origin : Africa and Madagascar
General Information
These birds are great pets for older children but may be a bit too nippy for younger children.
They are quiet birds, so they can live in an apartment with you. They can also be friendly with all members of your family if they are hand-fed and socialized from a young age. They can become nippy as they mature if they are not properly or consistently handled. They need to be kept singly or they will bond with each other rather than you.
The most popular types kept as pets are the Fischer's, Masked, and Peach-Faced. Make sure you buy a young bird rather than an older one because they are easier to tame from a young age. You can tell that one is younger by the amount of black on his beak--the more black, the more young (this may be different with different color mutations). The black normally disappears when they are 4 months old.
If you are able to provide your bird with adequate care and love, then this might be the perfect bird for you.
Lovebird Training
Lovebirds are often seen as nippy birds. You definitely need to know how to train your bird if you want him to be hand tamed and enjoy spending time with you. However, if you don't know how to train one, you may have difficulty even getting your bird out of his cage.
For this reason, we highly recommend that you find an effective training program for your bird. Whether your bird is new to your home or you've had him for years, a training program will always come in handy. We personally recommend the Bird Tricks Parrot Training Course by Chet Womach. You can see many of his videos for free to get an idea of how much he knows about birds and how he can help you train yours.
Care and feeding
In the wild, lovebirds feed on seeds, berries, fruits, grains, grasses, leaf buds, and agricultural crops of corn, maize and figs. Their food and water dishes are best if earthenware or porcelain as they will get gnawed if plastic.
Bird Food
Foods available for Lovebirds include formulated diets, either pelleted or extruded, seed only diets, and small parrot mixes which offer a mixture of both. There are pros and cons to feeding only a formulated diet as well as feeding only a seed diet.
Formulated Diet
A formulated diet provides a good nutritional base so does not require the addition of vitamins. However it does not contain the phytonutrients (antioxidant pigments) that are found in vegetables, fruits, grains, and seeds. Phytonutrients are believed to boost the immune system, help a body to heal itself, and to prevent some diseases. Also, parrots can become bored with formulated diet due to the lack of variety.
Seed Diet
A seed only diet offers much more variety but requires additional vitamin and calcium supplements. Lovebirds need not only nutritional requirements met but also variety for psychological enrichment.
A lovebirds's diet will consist of 1 1/2 to 2 ounces (45-60 grams) of feed daily for a single bird. A diet consisting of a small parrot mix along with a variety of supplements and vitamins is generally regarded as suitable. Also a formulated diet along with greens, fruits, and vegetable supplements but without additional vitamins is also regarded as suitable, and is a more current trend.
Supplements
Supplements include fresh vegetables, greens, tree branches for the bark, some fruits, and millet spray. Some of the fruit supplements include berries, apples, grapes, pears, bananas, and kiwi. Some of the greens and vegetable supplements include spinach, endive, watercress, chickweed, radish, parsley, dandelions, carrot tops, corn on the cob, peas, endive, field lettuce, and various garden herbs.
Additional proteins can be offered such as nuts. Try some unshelled peanuts as well as hazelnuts, walnuts, Brazil nuts, and chestnuts.
A cuttlebone, or gravel and oyster shell in a separate dish can be offered to provide calcium. Do not feed avocado as it can be toxic to birds! Vitamins can be added to the food or drinking water.
Click the link below for step by step Instructions Designs for Aviary
How To Build An AviaryHousing
Lovebirds are very active birds. When housing your lovebird, bird cages or an aviary best suited to them must provide a lot of space.
Bird Cages: A minimum of 32 x 20 x 20 (81 x 50 x 50 cm) per pair of birds is recommended with about four perches, feed and water dishes and an area for a bath. When you use a small cage, you must let your pet out daily to fly around.
If you are housing pairs of lovebirds here are a few guidelines: Try to house only one species of lovebird as mixing species can cause serious fights. House either one pair of lovebirds or three pairs, never two pairs or there will be fighting. Each pair needs about 35 cubic feet of space.
Aviary: A roomy indoor aviary, a bird room, or an outdoor aviary (depending on your area) are all good choices. The aviary needs plenty of light and fresh air. The outdoor aviary needs to have a protected shelter that can be heated and cooled where necessary. Flights are recommended to be a minimum of 6' x 6' x 3' (183 x 183 x 91 cm) with plenty of perches or branches at least 1 1/2" (15 cm) thick.
Breeding/Reproduction
One of the pleasures of lovebirds is that they are easy to breed. For breeding lovebirds, each pair of birds will need 2 nest boxes for sleeping and nesting. These boxes need to be of the same type and size, and placed at the same height on the same wall.Lovebirds will breed willingly as single pairs and some species of lovebirds can be bred in a colony setting. Especially suited to a colony are the white eye-ring group of lovebirds.Lovebirds need to be at least 10 months old, though 12 to 13 months is better. Also birds that are 5 to 6 years or older should be retired from breeding.Some visual characteristics that may aid in determining sex are that the female is heavier bodied than the male and will sit more broadly with legs apart, while the males sit more upright. A females tail will appear more square while a males will appear more rounded. When observing the nesting behavior, the female will do most of the nest building work.
If you are breeding lovebirds in a colony setting, it is very important to provide many more nest boxes than their are pairs of birds to minimize fighting. The nest boxes should all be the same and mounted at the same height of the enclosure. Also, be diligent in watching for fighting as it can lead to death.
A nest box for a lovebird is 8" x 8" x 8" (20 x 20 x 20 cm) or 10" x 6" x 6" (25 x 15 x 15 cm).The female will lay about 5 eggs, though the clutch could be as few as 3 eggs or as many as 8 eggs. The incubation period is 22 - 25 days, with 75% to 80% of the eggs hatching. The hen will start to brood after the second egg is hatched. Often the male will join the hen in the nest. The chicks will begin to leave the nest in about 38 - 50 days and will be independent about 2 weeks after leaving the nest.
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