Love Birds! Do you know that love birds are considered the most popular and favourite kind of pet bird globally? There are different types of love birds that are colourful, lovely, and quite charming with their looks. The lovebirds, most commonly called pocket parrots, come in few species and are pretty easy to maintain and look after. Increasingly, they are among the most preferred pets, given the exciting great companionship they provide to humans.
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What are Love Birds?
The love birds, as a common belief, belong to the genus of Agap*rnis and order Psittaciformes. They are small parrots to have a simple understanding. There are commonly nine lovebird species, and most of them originate from the African continent and Madagascar. These are native to these continents and countries and often are found in small flocks.
The love birds have short tail feathers and hardly are around five to seven inches in height. Their heads are instead in a different color than the main body and feathers, in most cases. They are colorful, and the most common colors widely range around green, white, teal, and peach. Within these birds, several mutations do exist; however, most of them are easy to breed, and maintain, given their cheerful nature of being.
9 Different Species of Love Birds and Their Names with Pictures:
It is believed commonly that there are around nine species of lovebirds existing today. However, not every kind of love bird is unfamiliar; only very few are found in most cases, where the rest are rare, kept in captivity for breeding. So let us know all about the types and names of lovebirds today.
1. Rosy-Faced Love Bird:
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Otherwise, also peach color, their rose-coloured face is among the most beautiful and loving lovebirds we have ever come across. This is the most popular variety, with stunning looks. The lovebird otherwise has the entire body green in color, and depending on the sex of the bird, the shade of color might vary a little. These birds are native to the southwestern African continent and live around 12-14 years old. The rosy-faced birds are tiny in size, hardly come under five inches in length. These African love birds types are mischievous and quite friendly.
2. Fischer’s Lovebird:
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This is another popular species of the lovebird pet. Fischer’s lovebirds are the quieter ones compared to other pets; however, they are quite friendly and chirpy when they get close to their owners. These birds are gentle in nature and are incredibly affectionate. They have a dark green body and a yellowish shade of neck. They are almost multicoloured when coming to the face and neck, around the head region. Fischer’s are native to Northcentral Tanzania. These lovebird varieties can live up to 18-20 years and are about 6 inches tall approximately.
3. Yellow Collared Lovebird:
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The Yellow-collared lovebirds are often also called masked lovebirds, given their distinct and unique shade in the face, near to black color, unlike the other species. These birds have green shade plumage and feathers and have different mutations and variants given the breeding. Few birds even get the lighter bluish-green color plumage. However, the yellow color neck shade is quite common. They are native to Kenya and Northeastern Tanzania and can live about 12-20 years. They are about 5 inches. The yellow collared lovebirds are friendly, energetic, and are very social. Given these characteristics, these birds can hardly live in cages and isolations for a long time and require frequent interactions.
4. Lillian’s Lovebird:
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Also referred to as Nyasa lovebird, the Lillian’s are among uncommon and rare species in this variety. Their appearance can be similar to be peachy/rosy-lovebird, and hence many confuse them to be the rosy variant. However, the Lillian’s have yellow and redder faces, with green plumage. They are challenging to breed and are almost near to threatened species at present. These birds are native to Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. They have a significantly shorter lifespan, to about 10-11 years. The Lillian’sare pretty active and curious birds.
5. Grey-Headed Lovebird:
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These Grey-headed lovebirds are common to Madagascar species and originate from outside the African continent. As the name suggests, the grey-headed bird comes with green wings and plumage and a light grey and white color-shaded head and neck. However, these shades might alter a bit depending on the sex of the bird. Given their distinct body and features, these birds are often quite attractive and unique in appearance. These lovebirds live up to 16 years and are around five inches in length. These types of African love birds are incredibly loving creatures, friendly, and very observant.
6. Black-Cheeked Lovebirds:
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These are again amongst the threatened species of lovebirds, given the tiny population in life. As the name suggests, the black-cheeked lovebirds have dark brown or blackish heads and cheeks with yellow throat. The plumage is, however, green in color. They originate from Zambia and live up to 13 years old. These species are very calm creatures, unlike the other variants. They are docile, peaceful, and are pretty quiet most of the time. However, they do not prefer and like too noisy and sounds surroundings.
7. Red-Headed Lovebirds:
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Red-headed lovebirds come in red color shaded head and neck area with yellowish color shade plumage and feathers. These look pretty distinct from others when compared and are very difficult to breed as well. They are native to several countries in Africa and live up to 20 years. These are also up to 6 inches in length and are pretty active creatures.
8. Black-Winged Lovebird:
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Also called an Abyssinian lovebird, black-winged birds are pretty uncommon and rare ones. These birds have green plumage but with black color underwings, hence the name. The forehead is, however, red in color. They are from Ethiopia and live up to 15 years. These lovebirds cannot live in isolation, prefer when paired with others, and enjoy affection. They are very unlike quiet creatures, like social surroundings.
9. Black-Collared Lovebird:
Image Source: Instagram
Finally, we have the Black-collared lovebird, also called Swindler’s bird. These birds come with green plumage by a black collar or around the nape of the neck. Few might have yellowish-red shaded beak or neck. They are native to equatorial Africa and are to be found in several countries like Uganda, Congo, Ghana, etc. They are about five inches and can live up to 12-15 years. These birds are pretty energetic, active, and fun!
How to Care for and Maintain Lovebirds?
It is very easy to care for them; all they require is cleanliness, neat surroundings, neat cage. Always clean the cage regularly, including their food dishes. Further, most of the birds are pretty active, require good space, and cannot be kept in minimal surroundings.
These are the known species for the types of lovebirds. We hope you enjoyed reading about them. The lovebirds definitely look lovely and are perfect pets for those who like loving creatures. So, what do you think about them? Let us know your thoughts too!
