is this a lovebird ?

[SpotsandSally]

I also don't cover cages. When its my Christmas break - like now - Kiwi stays up with me 'till 3am and sleeps in till 3, lol. He's fine so long as he gets a nice long sleep. And I'm sure you know this, but ill say it anyways, NEVER sleep with your in bird in the bed. Too easy to crush them. They should be in a cage during bedtime, or a seperate room (like one of the members here Nypsy does cageless, but I believe his macaws sleep in a different room).

How's he doing? Sweet looking bird.

 

[Mitchan]

You already got bunch of good advice above but I want to mention that they don't need to be in a pair. If he's friendly he will stay friendly as long as you don't give them a mate. It's a misconception just because they're named lovebirds they need to be as a pair.

I'm sorry but I have to TOTALLY, though respectfully, disagree!
For starters, I personally don't think it's fair to deny a bird something so highly natural as a same-species friend because it's comfortable for the human, especially since these are not domesticated pets.
In my experience, the misconception surrounding their name that you're talking about is rather... The other thing you're talking about... That "You can't keep them in pairs because they won't be friendly towards you - I mean, they ARE called lovebirds!!" (Not saying that's exactly what you said - just that that's what I've heard so many times!)
I personally know of a few tame, friendly(!) lovebird pairs (and have helped to tame two) - I used to have a rehomed single one, and he had a LOT of behavioural issues, but I've never once met a lovebird with a partner or a flock that also had such problems. Sure, maybe that's completely unrelated, but maybe it isn't?

They live in fairly big flocks in the wild (like, 10-40 birds? Not sure), which tells me personally not only that it's healthy and natural for them to have another bird to interact up close with, but also that it certainly IS more than possible to get along with more than one "person". Sure, if you're not really lucky, it's probably lots of effort and daily interaction, but for me, that's worth it.
There's nothing more natural and super healthy than for such a social animal to interact with another of their species, we can never be that for them.

So, just to clarify: I'm not saying a single lovebird, or any other bird, CAN'T be happy with their humans, definitely not, of course they are happy and healthy with us if taken well care of(!!), I'm ONLY saying that in MY experience, it's MORE healthy and way natural for them (and a great form of enrichment, even though we often don't think about it as such!) to have a birdie friend.
So yeah, I just wanted to offer a different opinion to the subject so that OP or anybody else can think to look into both parts and decide for themselves!

 

[thekarens]

Cockatoos and other parrots live in flocks in the wild also, but you don't see people telling them they have to have 2 of them because it's more natural and healthy. Just because lovebirds are small it doesn't mean it's different for them. If you pair a lovebird it's unlikely to stay tame. It's better if you are going to have 2 to keep them in separate cages. I think the name makes people believe they need a mate and that's simply not true.

If you did decide to get a second one I'd keep it in a separate cage and let them out together for play time.

 

[Mitchan]

Cockatoos and other parrots live in flocks in the wild also, but you don't see people telling them they have to have 2 of them because it's more natural and healthy. Just because lovebirds are small it doesn't mean it's different for them. If you pair a lovebird it's unlikely to stay tame. It's better if you are going to have 2 to keep them in separate cages. I think the name makes people believe they need a mate and that's simply not true.

If you did decide to get a second one I'd keep it in a separate cage and let them out together for play time.

Oh yes, I most DEFINITELY do see people telling others that even 'toos and 'caws, greys and 'zons and such should be at least two if possible, and I'm definitely the first to encourage anyone who's up for it to do so!

I mean, we're obviously from different parts of the world and I totally get that it's very unusual to have two big parrots together in, like, the US and the UK and stuff, and even here in Sweden you often see single birds (big parrots, that is - it's very unusual to have only one of the littles, from what I've seen), but there's also a lot of successful, tame pairs or flocks. Of COURSE it's the most natural thing ever for them to have partners/bird friends! Have you SEEN a cockatoo flock? Have you seen them play and forage together? It's the adorablest thing - and I'd LOVE for that to be possible inside our homes too. It obviously isn't, I mean, nobody could fit that many birds that size in their house, but why not do the next best thing, two birds and a couple of humans?
I TOTALLY get that that could be SOO hard to manage and I'm definitely not even close to judging anyone with a single bird, I just have a huge amount of love and respect for the ones who do give it a try or work it out!

The reason that I more often encourage owners of small parrots to try out and see if a partner would work, is that I know it's hard or impossible for most people to bring in another big parrot and then have it totally fail in one way or another. It's a huge responsibility and I'm not the one to tell anyone to take that big of a step, IF they're not telling me they're thinking about doing it.
Small parrots are easier to separate if things wouldn't work out one way or another.

 

[kenhill]

Cockatoos and other parrots live in flocks in the wild also, but you don't see people telling them they have to have 2 of them because it's more natural and healthy. Just because lovebirds are small it doesn't mean it's different for them. If you pair a lovebird it's unlikely to stay tame. It's better if you are going to have 2 to keep them in separate cages. I think the name makes people believe they need a mate and that's simply not true.

If you did decide to get a second one I'd keep it in a separate cage and let them out together for play time.

Oh yes, I most DEFINITELY do see people telling others that even 'toos and 'caws, greys and 'zons and such should be at least two if possible, and I'm definitely the first to encourage anyone who's up for it to do so!

I mean, we're obviously from different parts of the world and I totally get that it's very unusual to have two big parrots together in, like, the US and the UK and stuff, and even here in Sweden you often see single birds (big parrots, that is - it's very unusual to have only one of the littles, from what I've seen), but there's also a lot of successful, tame pairs or flocks. Of COURSE it's the most natural thing ever for them to have partners/bird friends! Have you SEEN a cockatoo flock? Have you seen them play and forage together? It's the adorablest thing - and I'd LOVE for that to be possible inside our homes too. It obviously isn't, I mean, nobody could fit that many birds that size in their house, but why not do the next best thing, two birds and a couple of humans?
I TOTALLY get that that could be SOO hard to manage and I'm definitely not even close to judging anyone with a single bird, I just have a huge amount of love and respect for the ones who do give it a try or work it out!

The reason that I more often encourage owners of small parrots to try out and see if a partner would work, is that I know it's hard or impossible for most people to bring in another big parrot and then have it totally fail in one way or another. It's a huge responsibility and I'm not the one to tell anyone to take that big of a step, IF they're not telling me they're thinking about doing it.
Small parrots are easier to separate if things wouldn't work out one way or another.

Have to agree with what u say Mitchan. Company for any living being is good

 

[MikeyTN]

Mitchan,

Don't get me wrong, they love company of others that's for sure. I used to raise Lovebirds years ago so I'm not a novice towards Lovies. Yes you can have tame pairs but that's on rare occasions. I've paired enough birds together to know better and I had second generation pairing that was handfed to begin with and was friendly until mated then that was it. Not telling others not to try it, anyone can try if you like as long as you can handle the consequence of what happens afterwards. I recently just adopted a Lovie and I don't intend on getting him a mate as there's other birds to keep him company.

 

[Evilbird]

Hi - this is a peach faced lovebird. Yes they prefer to be in pairs even the same sex. Is it tame? They don't talk

We have a pair of blue lovebirds and even though they don't "talk to me" I do hear one of them saying words when shes falling asleep. It's kind of a mumble but I hear her "pretty bird" "hello" "what ya doin" quite often. I wish she would talk when I'm trying to get her to talk lol. And of course anytime I pick up the camera there's this eerie silence

 

[DallyTsuka]

just to throw this out there... i have a "pair" of lovebirds myself. rather, siblings, but they've never once been apart since the day they were born, they came home with us together. but the female prefers human company over her brother, BUT her brother prefers bird company. and she has several behavioural problems such as hormonal plucking, egg laying, and has even self mutilated in the past. so claiming having them with a birdie friend makes them not have these problems is not true--you can get problems either way. in fact, having another lovebird around my female makes her hormonal and triggers her egg laying! which in turn makes her pluck to line a "nest" and she has chewed her legs last year as well in hormonal frustration. so having a single bird, you also reduce THAT from happening. i know my female lovebird would be much better off as a single bird, but we will not rehome her brother, as he's a part of our flock. they get rare play time together, but we mostly keep the female apart from her brother and when she is kept single and out of sight of her brother, we do not have any problems!

so i think it is unwise to say that having a pair automatically makes a bird happier. it can also cause problems as well.


i think the best case for ALL parrots, not just lovebirds, is to only ever get a second bird if the OWNER wants a second bird. because they may not get along at all and then the owner is stuck with two single birds who may even try to kill eachother (we're talking lovebirds here, they do try that).

so i'd be taking MikeyTN's side on this one--single lovebirds can be just as happy and tend to make better pets. You are right that you can tame a pair, it's just very difficult and totally depends on the birds. but saying that you dont see behavioural problems in paired birds is totally false.

 

[Betrisher]

I'm with Mitchan on this one. I hate the sight of a bird in a cage alone and have always kept mine in pairs. Barney and Madge are great: both are completely tame and love me to bits. Like most ringnecks, they're not particularly lovey-dovey with each other, but if they get separated, they call and call until they find each other again. They roost snuggled up to each other and their favourite game is stealing a toy and flying around the house with it and being hotly pursued. Every bit of their behaviour indicates to me they're happier being together than they would be on their own. But that's just me and my birds. Others will do what works for them.

 

[christine]

My lovebirds prefer vegetables over fruit. My vet said this was normal. Lovebirds are native to africa and probably naturally eat things like mesquite bean pods, etc. There arent any tropical fruits in africa.

My birds love broccoli, sprouts, peas, green beans, wheatgrass, cauliflower, romansceu, kale, etc.

Every so often I give them some raw almond but its fattening so not more then a nibble of it.

Avocados=Poisonous

The people who told you that they like to be in pairs are partially right. They like to be in pairs but can be the only bird it just means they will have a mate bond with you and they will want to be with you all the time. If you don't have much spare time for the bird then I would get it a buddy.

The only way to find out its sex is to have a DNA test done.

Another heads up, you have to be careful not to expose your bird to zinc or lead metal. Stainless Steel or Powdercoated metal is safe. Birds are extremely sensitive to metals and die easily when exposed to Zinc/Lead.

I would also recommend getting them on a pellet diet instead of seed. Birds pick through seed to just get the yummy stuff often leaving all the nutritious items behind. If they eat pellets then they cant be picky and they get an even amount of nutrients.