Who hasn’t wanted to have a lovebird in their house at some point? It is a difficult decision to choose just one, but lilian’s lovebird should certainly be one of the first choices.
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A very studied bird
There is not much data on the origin of this species, although it could well be a mutation of the fischer’s lovebird, a bird with which it is normally very confused by some similarities.
Mainly in East Africa, especially southern Tanzania, Malawi and north-western Mozambique. It is a very well studied bird by the Research Project directed by the University of KwaZulu-Natal, in order to better understand its ecology and conservation. Because of the farms they have almost lost their habitat and now live in the National Parks, where they are protected.
It can be distinguished from one of its relatives by some characteristics
The lilian’s lovebird is very common to be confused by the fischer’s lovebird, since they usually measure the same: 14 centimeters and its weight oscillates for 50 grams more or less, although it can weigh 60 in some variants that have mutated and are a little larger.
However, it has some features that make it easy to differentiate. For example, there is the reddish mask with a slight orange hue on the head, and in the belly area it does not have the blue hue that characterizes fischer’s lovebird.
Normally, their body color will be bright green, while your wings will be olive green and your chest will be greenish but yellowish. His eye ring is well marked and white in color, while his beak is red and his legs are grayish.
Although these are their common colors, due to mutations there are some specimens that may present a blue plumage, with a grayish or pale blue chest and black head, also very common in bird shops.
Knowing the age of an lovebirds is very simple, as young specimens have duller colors and darker beaks. However, differentiating the female from the male is not so easy, as they do not have sexual dimorphism. As with other species, the only way to differentiate them is with the bones of the pelvis, which has them further apart for laying.
In terms of its character, it is a much more peaceful bird than the rest of its relatives, which makes it the ideal pet when it has to live with humans. They are not usually very sociable with other birds, except their partners. In the case of having several birds of this species, it is normal for couples to live isolated in a hole in the cage.
It’s time to take care of a lilian’s lovebird, what’s there to know?
Although it is a bird that is easy to keep in captivity, the truth is that it needs a fairly large cage, because it likes to move around inside it from one perch to another, so they require a lot of space. Let’s say about an inch or so. In addition, it must have horizontal bars on which you can lean to see the outside.
It is a bird acclimatized to average temperatures of about 15º C, but in the case of being in a very hot area should not be in a space that the sun gives it all day and that does not receive continuous bursts of air. So they need to be located in a place where they can take shelter if they live in an area with low temperatures.
Feeding him is easy, because he eats seeds of any kind, although his favorite is the panizo en rama. It is best to give him a combination of canaryseed, millet, oats, hemp, pipes and, of course, panizo den rama, so that he is satisfied. Occasionally a piece of fruit, berries or white alsine will be good for vitamins and nutrients. Some vitamin complex can be added to the water to make it healthy.
Even if it is a good pet bird, it is very difficult to raise. Experts have not yet been able to explain the large decline in the bird’s population, which makes them difficult to achieve. What’s more, getting a white eye ring lilian’s lovebird is quite difficult and when they lay eggs, there is a high rate of sterile eggs and high mortality. It is therefore not recommended to keep this bird at home if you are an inexperienced breeder.
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