From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Lovebird

Genus of parrots

Lovebird is the common name for the genus Agapornis, a small group of parrots in the Old World parrot family Psittaculidae. Of the nine extant species in the genus, all are native to the African continent, with the grey-headed lovebird being native to the African island of Madagascar. Social and affectionate, the name comes from the parrots' strong, monogamous pair bonding and the long periods which paired birds spend sitting together. Lovebirds live in small flocks and eat fruit, vegetables, grasses, and seeds. Some species are kept as pets, and several coloured mutations have been selectively bred in aviculture. The average lifespan is 10 to 12 years.

Description

Lovebirds are 13 - in length, up to 24 cm in wingspan with 9 cm for a single wing and 40 - in weight. They are among the smallest parrots, characterised by a stocky build, a short blunt tail, and a relatively large, sharp beak. Wildtype lovebirds are mostly green with a variety of colours on their upper body, depending on the species. The Fischer's lovebird, black-cheeked lovebird, and the masked lovebird have a prominent white ring around their eyes. Many colour mutant varieties have been produced by selective breeding of the species that are popular in aviculture. , there are 30 known plumage colour variations among lovebirds, which are caused by pigments called psittacofulvins.

Taxonomy

The genus Agapornis was described by the English naturalist Prideaux John Selby in 1836. The name combines the Ancient Greek αγάπη agape meaning "love" and όρνις ornis meaning "bird". The type species is the black-collared lovebird (Agapornis swindernianus), which was originally placed into the genus Psittacus within a section called Psittacula by naturalist Heinrich Kuhl. Selby contended that this placement rather than a separate genus was "artificial" and done "without regard to the structure, habits, or distribution of the species."

The genus contains nine species of which five are monotypic and four are divided into subspecies. They are native to mainland Africa and the island of Madagascar. In the wild, the different species are separated geographically.

Traditionally, lovebirds are divided into three groups:

the sexually dimorphic species: Madagascar, Abyssinian, and red-headed lovebird
the intermediate species: peach-faced lovebird
the white-eye-ringed species: masked, Fischer's, Lilian's, and black-cheeked lovebirds However, this division is not fully supported by phylogenetic studies, as the species of the dimorphic group are not grouped together in a single clade.

Species

Species and subspecies:

Nesting

Depending on the species of lovebird, the female will carry nesting material into the nest in various ways. The peach-faced lovebird, for example, tucks nesting material in the feathers of its rump.

Feral populations

Hybrids (Fischer's lovebird × masked lovebird) in Nairobi, Kenya.

Feral populations of Fischer's lovebirds and masked lovebirds live in cities of East Africa. There are interspecific hybrids that exist between these two species. The hybrid has a reddish-brown head and orange on upper chest, but otherwise resembles the masked lovebird.

There are two feral colonies present in the Pretoria region (Silver Lakes, Faerie Glen and Centurion) in South Africa. They probably originated from birds that escaped from aviaries. They consist mostly of masked, black cheeked, Fischer and hybrid birds and vary in colours. White (not albino) and yellow as well as blue occur in many cases. The white ringed eyes are very prominent.

There is a notable feral colony in Arizona, consisting of mostly Rosy-faced lovebirds. They originated from birds that escaped the pet trade, and were first seen in the state during the 1980's. The first breeding pair in Arizona was discovered in 1998.

Diet and health

Parrots are generally vegetarian species. Lovebirds forage for their food. In the wild, their diet mainly consists of seeds, grains, and leaves from trees, shrubs, and tall grass.

Wild lovebirds may harbor diseases such as avian polyomavirus.

References

Alderton, David. (2003). "The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Caged and Aviary Birds". Hermes House.
van der Zwan, Henriëtte. (2019). "Plumage colour variations in the Agapornis genus: a review". [[Ostrich: Journal of African Ornithology]].
Ke, Fushi. (March 2024). "Convergent evolution of parrot plumage coloration". [[PNAS Nexus]].
Selby, Prideaux John. (1836). "The Natural History of Parrots". W.H. Lizards.
Jobling, James A.. (2010). "The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names". Christopher Helm.
(1937). "Check-List of Birds of the World". Harvard University Press.
(2020). "Parrots, cockatoos". International Ornithologists' Union.
(2008-07-05). "Zoological Nomenclature Resource: Psittaciformes (Version 9.004)". www.zoonomen.net.
Le Breton, Kenny. (1992). "Lovebirds...getting started". T.F.H. Publications.
(1978). "Roberts Birds of South Africa". The Trustees of the John Voelcker Bird Book Fund.
Forshaw (2006). plate 45.
"Fischer's Lovebird".
(2021-03-25). "When It Gets Too Hot, Phoenix's Lovebirds Turn to Air Conditioning {{!}} Audubon".
Uehling, Jennifer J.. (2019-07-01). "Status of naturalized parrots in the United States". Journal of Ornithology.
(2016). "Avian Medicine". Elsevier.
Ndithia, Henry. (2006-04-01). "Diet and foraging behaviour of the Rosy-faced Lovebird Agapornis roseicollis in Namibia". Ostrich.
Johne, R.. (1998). "Avian polyomavirus in wild birds: genome analysis of isolates from ''Falconiformes'' and ''Psittaciformes''". [[Archives of Virology]].

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

lovebirds agapornithinae parrots-of-africa birds-of-sub-saharan-africa taxa-named-by-prideaux-john-selby

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Lovebird — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report