Many people have never heard of or seen lovebirds in the pet trade (or in the wild for that matter) so I wanted to acquaint all of you with the 9 different species within the lovebird category.
Only 3 species, the Peach-faced, Fischer’s and Masked lovebirds are readily available in the U.S. pet trade.
www.amazon.com has some great books on this subject.
PEACH-FACED LOVEBIRDS
Peach-faced or Rosy-faced as they can be referred to, are the most common pet lovebird. Within this genre are many color mutations and the variety of colors are endless (which is one reason they have become so popular)
The common non-mutation coloring is green with a bright peach or rose colored face as pictured below:
The tailfeathers are usually a bright aqua blue…what a little cutie!
Fairly common are the Lutino mutation which is yellow with an orange/rose face. Keep in mind, no matter what color mutation, all Peach-faced lovebirds posses a flesh-colored or yellowish beak. Again this little lutino (pictured below) is a color mutation within the Peach-faced genre:
There are some visible white feathers on the rump and tail as well.
Just to give you an idea of the various mutations within the Peach-faced genre here is a mutation called the Dutch Blue:
American Cinnamon Pied:
Pied:
A Dutch Blue and Violet Pied together:
Don’t let the Peached-faced name fool you …as many of the color mutations have lighter or white faces.
The best thing to do is visit a breeders’ website that specializes in Peach-faced mutations to find your perfect little lovie color mutation (If you are planning to get one that is)
FISCHER’S LOVEBIRDS
The second most common species seen in the pet trade are the Fischer’s Lovebird. These birds are slightly larger than the Peach-faced but just as pretty IMO. They have a bright red beak and resemble small parrots (probably because they ARE small parrots) and sport a white eye ring.
Here below are a few pictures of a pair of Fischer’s lovebirds and like the Peach-faced there are several other color mutations:
MASKED LOVEBIRDS
Thirdly, the Masked lovebird which can also be found in the pet trade. These are slightly more difficult to find in pet stores, but you will still see some people that own and/or breed them
Below is a picture, and just as the name implies, the non-color mutation have a black masked face with a white eye ring. There ARE other color mutations within this genre but all masked lovebirds have a black face like the bird pictured below:
For instance, there are violet masked lovebirds and other color mutations available. Check breeders online that specialize in this particular lovebird, if you can find them.
WILD BIRDS
Below are the remainder of the species found in the wild (Africa and Madagascar) Keep in mind this chart still features the 3 genres of lovebird that I mention earlier in the post and that are readily available in the pet trade. The only bird on this chart that hails from Madagascar is the Grey-headed lovebird shown below. (Madagascar is an island right off the coast of Africa)
www.amazon.com has some great books on lovebirds and ownership so be sure to check them out.
I hope you have learned a little bit about this unique genus of parrot and feel free to comment below with any questions or thoughts… I would love to hear from you.