For other uses, see Lovebird (disambiguation).

Lovebird
Agapornis roseicollis -eating grass seeds-8.jpg
A feral rosy-faced lovebird eating seeds in Chicago, USA
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Psittaciformes
Superfamily:
Psittacoidea
Family:
Psittaculidae
Subfamily:
Agapornithinae
Genus: Agapornis
Selby, 1836
Species
Nine - see text
A lovebird is one of nine species of the genus Agapornis (Greek: a??p? agape 'lo
ve'; ????? ornis 'bird'). They are a social and affectionate small parrot. Eight
species are native to the African continent, and the grey-headed lovebird is na
tive to Madagascar. Their name stems from the parrots' strong, monogamous pair b
onding and the long periods which paired birds spend sitting together. Lovebirds
live in small flocks and eat fruit, vegetables, grasses and seed. Black-winged
lovebirds also eat insects and figs, and the black-collared lovebirds have a spe
cial dietary requirement for native figs, making them problematic to keep in cap
tivity.
Some species are kept as pets, and several color mutations were selectively bred
in aviculture. Their average lifespan is 10 to 15 years.[1]
Contents
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3
4
5
6

Description
Taxonomy
Species
Nesting
Feral populations
Aviculture
6.1 Sexual characteristics and behavior
6.2 Housing and environment
6.3 Grooming
6.4 Diet in captivity
6.5 Aggression problems with other birds and animal species
6.6 Pets and bird safety
7 In popular culture
8 Further reading
9 References
9.1 Cited texts
Description
Lovebirds are 13 to 17 centimeters in length and 40 to 60 grams in weight. They
are among the smallest parrots, characterized by a stocky build, a short blunt t
ail, and a relatively large, sharp beak. Wildtype lovebirds are mostly green wit
h a variety of colors on their upper body, depending on the species. The Fischer
's lovebird, black-cheeked lovebird, and the masked lovebird have a prominent wh
ite ring around their eyes. Many color mutant varieties have been produced by se
lective breeding of the species that are popular in aviculture.
Taxonomy

Phylogeny of the genus Agapornis based on molecular evidence.[2] The species wit
h the red line is currently unplaced in the phylogeny, but does belong to this g
enus.
The lovebird genus comprises nine species of which five are monotypic and four a
re divided into subspecies.[3] Eight of them are native in the mainland of Afric
a and the Madagascar lovebird is native to 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 loveb
ird