Hi! We are the world-famous Fischer’s Love birds. We are called lovebirds because of our closeness and affection towards our mate. Have a look at some interesting points about us.
- We are monogamous birds i.e.; we have a single mate for a lifetime. When we form a pair, we stay very close to each other and preen (clean and tidy up), feed, and bathe each other.
- We are beautiful looking small birds and also intelligent. This is the reason we are one of the famous pets in the world.
- We are named after famous German explorer Gustav Fischer and we were discovered in the late 19th century.
- We have a very small natural range. We are found only in parts of Tanzania and Ethiopia if Africa.
- As pets, we are very attention-seeking and need to play and socialize regularly. If not, we can shed our feathers because of stress.
- As we are famous pets, we are highly exploited for pet trade resulting in a huge decline in our population.
SOME QUICK FACTS ABOUT US:
Our Scientific Name: Agapornis fischeri.
Identification: Small, cute, green birds with golden yellow wings and neck.
Our Habitat: isolated trees near grass plains.
Our Range:
Food Habits: Omnivorous; feed on seeds and fruits.
Breeding Period: from January to April and again in June and July.
Number of eggs laid: 4-5 eggs.
Incubation period: about 23 days.
Lifespan: 5-15 years in the wild; more than 20 years in captivity.
IUCN red list status: Near Threatened.
CITES: Appendix II
Indian Wildlife Protection Act: Not listed.
SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Psittaciformes
Family: Psittaculidae
Genus: Agapornis
Species: A. fischeri
COMPLETE DETAILS ABOUT US FOR ANIMAL ENTHUSIASTS:
We are the playful, sweet and cute little parrots called Fischer’s Lovebirds. We are named after German explorer Gustav Fischer. Let us tell you more about our species.
Fischers love Birds are scientifically called as Agapornis fischeri.
HOW WE LOOK:
We are not sexually dimorphic, and one cannot differentiate male and female by just looking at us. We have a green body and wings with our necks being golden yellow. Our heads are in olive green color and beak is red.
The young ones look similar to adults, just small and dull. We have a length of about 14cm and we weigh 43gms-58gms.
WE ARE FOUND IN:
We are unique species native to a small area in East-Central Africa. We can be seen near south and southeast side of Lake Victoria in northern Tanzania. We prefer living in isolated trees near grass plains.
WHAT WE EAT:
We are herbivores and live on feeding seeds and fruits.
OUR REPRODUCTION:
We are well-known for our pairing. We are monogamous (having a single mate for a lifetime) and live in pairs. The pair is very close and do not leave each other. They often preen (clean and tidy) each other, feed and bathe each other. This closeness and affection towards each other gave us the name love bird.
Breeding season is from January to April and again in June and July. We nest in a hole of a tree and the female lays 4-5 eggs at a time. The incubation period is 23 days and the young ones flee the nest after 38-42 days.
The young ones are taken care of and fed by both the parents. We live 5-15 years in the wild whereas in captivity, we live up to 20 years.
MORE ABOUT US:
We are social animals and we are very popular pets among many humans.
We are, like many other parrots, intelligent and are very vocal and make a lot of noises.
Females of our species are more aggressive than males.
We, like many other parrot species, can pluck our feathers in stress or when felt bored. We need to stay in pairs or groups for better health.
OUR CONSERVATION:
We are only seen outside our native range as pets and in our native range, there are 2,90,000 – 10,00,000 individuals. Our populations are decreasing day by day due to the pet trade. We are listed as “near threatened” in the red list of IUCN and are also listed under Appendix II of CITES.
