Psittaccidae Agapornis
Lovebirds Species Contributed by Diane V. Hajicek
Since there are nine species of lovebird it might be hard to choose which one that you might be interested in as a pet or for setting up as breeding pairs. It is generally thought that male lovebirds make better single pets than the females. The reasons for this are varied and not always true. It is said that the females are more protective of their nests and more likely to do most of the nest hole excavating and more of the work bringing nesting materials to the nest and more protective of the young. Some of these suggestions may be true in some species, but not always. Many female lovebirds make excellent pets if they are given the proper amount of love and attention from their chosen person. They can also be very entertaining as some species females will gather bits of paper and twigs and treasures and tuck them under their wing and into their tail feathers and drag them up to the cage to try to build a nest. Watching all these activities of the female lovebird can be just as entertaining and enjoyable as having a male bird hanging off your shirt pocket all day. Many female lovebirds become just as loving and connected to their owners as the males do. But if your mind is made up that you want to own one sex preferably over the other, then perhaps the following descriptions of the species will help you decide.
Several of the lovebird species are sexually dimorphic meaning that you might be able to determine if they are a pair simply by looking at differences between them. Several of the species are monomorphic which means that both sexes look so much alike that it's next to impossible to tell if you have a male or female. If one wishes to choose or to breed the monomorphic species of lovebirds it would be best to invest in a DNA test when pairing them up.
There are also 4 species of lovebird that have a white eye ring. These are the 4 white eye ring species.
The Agapornis nigrigenis or Black Cheeked Lovebird, which is a monomorphic species meaning that the male and female look much alike. This is a hard species to find now as it has been frequently cross bred with the Black Masked Lovebird.
The Agapornis lilianae or Nyasa Lovebird, which is somewhat rare in captivity and which is monomorphic.
The Agapornis fischeri or Fischer's Lovebird, which is monomorphic
The Agapornis personata or Masked Lovebird, which is monomorphic
There are 5 species of lovebird that do not have a white eye ring and they are: The Agapornis cana or Madagascar Lovebird, which is sexually dimorphic. The head and breast of the Madagascar male is gray. The male has black underwing coverts. The female's head is a greenish brown and her breast feathers are a yellowish green color as is the rest of her underside and her underwing coverts are green.
The Agapornis pullaria or Red-faced Lovebird is sexually dimorphic. The male has a bright red beak and face and a darker green chest. The female's beak and face are more orange color and meet up with yellowish feathers on her chest. The male has black under-wing coverts and the female has green under-wing coverts
The Agapornis taranta or Abyssinian Lovebird is sexually dimorphic. The male has a bright red beak and forehead and a red ring around his eyes. The female has a plain green forehead and a red beak. The male has black flight feathers and the female has brown flight feathers.
The Agapornis roseicollis or Peach-faced Lovebird is a monomorphic species. It is virtually impossible to determine the sexes in this species as they are very similar, although some breeders claim that they know how to tell. They have been bred now in every color imaginable, but the normal color is dark green with some shade of red on the face and neck. The beak is horn colored. The rump feathers are a cobalt blue and the flight feathers are black. This is a very popular species, but they should be paired up young, as they are very territorial and capable of harming their mates if they are not happy together.
The Agapornis swinderniana or Swindern's Lovebird is monomorphic. It is a beautiful bird but is not kept in captivity as it requires a specific diet of figs in its natural habitat. It has been virtually impossible to keep them in an aviary setting. Nevertheless they are beautiful with their three toned collars of black, orange, and yellow. They have a black beak and beautiful barred red tail feathers. Some people say that they can identify the difference between males and females but that they are very similar in appearance A link can be found at the bottom of this page that will take you to a New Zealand site that has pictures of each of the nine species of lovebirds.
For some photos of the nine species, see http://www.lovebirds.co.nz/introduction/spec.php
More information and photos, see http://www.parrotparrot.com/lovebirds/