Abstract
0 ne of the most rewarding and enjoyable birds to breed are Peach-faced Lovebirds Agapornis roseicollis. They make exceptional parents and can be bred in a wide variety of beautiful colors. Well-socialized, handfed lovebird babies make terrific pets, and I rarely have enough babies to meet the demand. They are easy to house, easy to convert to healthy diets (contrary to myths), and they are not easily disturbed from nesting.
Acquiring Stock
Lovebirds are not sexually dimorphic. There are some subtle differences between cocks and hens, but for every characteristic someone will tell you they have seen that characteristic in the opposite sex. Some visual differences between the sexes are that hens tend to have a wider stance on the perch, and hens have wider pelvic bones which move a bit when felt with a finger. Also, when you place nesting material in a cage, both hens and cocks will shred the material, but hens will tuck the material under their wings to take them to the nesting box. Males will try to do this, usually unsuccessfully. The best method of determining sex in lovebirds is through DNA testing, and I do this with all my birds before pairing them up.
The wide variety of color mutations makes it hard not to want one of each in the beginning, but it is important to think through a long-range plan when
putting together pairs. A classic pair of normal Peach-faceds is a must in every lovebird aviary. Because of the obsession with color mutations, it is actually difficult at times to find a good example of the wild-type bird. When deciding upon your other pairs, remember that certain colors are dominant and can take over your aviary if you are not careful. Pied and American cinnamon are examples of this. Remember if you put two Pieds together, you will get all pied babies. I prefer not to do this, as it is nicer to have a variety of babies from each clutch.
Keep clear records with birds such as American cinnamons because you want to know which of your babies are split to this color (not visual) so you can inform your buyers who may not want this color popping up unexpectedly in their babies. Study up on color genetics before you buy anything so you understand what the combinations will produce.
The most popular colors in my experience are blue series birds such as blue Pieds, whiteface violets, American Cinnamons (with or without violet factor), and Violet Pieds. It is best to buy birds with a known background (i.e., color genetics of parents and grandparents). Record keeping is important, especially in areas where there are limited numbers of certain
colors. You want to avoid accidentally breeding closely-related birds.
Do not sacrifice size and conformation for color. Take a good look at some photographs or drawings of the show standard and try to match that as closely as possible. If you find a stunning color example with a certain poor characteristic (size, head shape, flight feathers crossing), be sure to match
that bird with a mate that does not have these poor characteristics.
Cages and Nesting Boxes
There are two ways to breed lovebirds-in large aviary groups and by individual pairs in separate breeding cages. Because I want to carefully control the color mutations in my lovebirds, I use the latter method. It is also much easier to "keep the peace" among lovebirds when they have separate cages. You can remove pairs from flight cages at breeding time and place them in smaller cages more suitable for breeding. Breeding cages should give enough room so that birds can "heat their wings" without hitting anything.
When pairing up birds for the first time, never put a new lovebird into the established territory of another bird. This is particularly true with hens. A hen will attack to protect her territory. It is best to introduce the pair into a neutral cage. Closely watch the pair for the first 72 hours. While a little bickering can be fine, if one bird is hiring the other bird on the back of the neck this can be very dangerous. I have only had a few situations where hens went so far as to attack the new mate, but if I had not observed the behavior the male could have been killed. In cases
where the hen is just a bit annoyed by the new cage mate, she will generally come around in a few days or weeks.
The nest box is your next consideration. I have found that I get the best results with English Budgie nesting boxes. These open on the side via a sliding, two-part door. They have a little raised platform at the entrance and a lower area where the hen nests. These are nice because the hen can have company while nesting (the cock will often sit on the perch over the raised platform) without being crowded. I usually remove the concave wood piece intended for budgies. I hang the nest box on the outside of the cage, and then use wire clippers to cut a hole in the cage wall. Make sure you file down any sharp points on the cut wire.