Rosy-faced Lovebird

Rosy-faced Lovebird battle analysis

The rosy-faced lovebird is a small green parrot with a pink face and a blue rump that lives in the dry woodland and semi-desert of Namibia, Angola and South Africa. It must drink several times a day, so flocks gather in hundreds around pools and rivers, then scatter to feed on grass seeds and acacia pods. At night lovebirds sleep in rock crevices or inside the giant thatched nests built by sociable weavers.

For its size it is physically impressive. Force-plate tests show it bites harder than expected for a bird of 55 g, and biomechanics studies found it can climb walls with feet and beak and even move hand-over-hand beneath a thin branch using only its beak, taking about one and a half times its body weight on the bill with each swing. It is also bold: when a predator threatens, lovebirds squawk, flap and advance, and whole groups will attack a predator that refuses to leave.

In an absolute matchup, though, it weighs about as much as a large egg. Its bite can hurt a finger but cannot harm a large animal, and it has no armor. Its best weapons are speed, agility and the courage of its flock.

Habitat & range

The rosy-faced lovebird lives in dry, open country in south-western Africa, from south-western Angola across most of Namibia to the lower Orange River valley in north-western South Africa and around Lake Ngami in Botswana. It uses dry woodland, sub-desert steppe, savanna with sparse trees, and wooded belts along rivers and canyons, up to about 1,500–1,600 m, always near permanent water (WPT; ADW). Feral birds live in Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, where they have been seen perching on air-conditioner vents in extreme heat.

Diet & hunting

It eats mainly seeds, especially of grasses, Albizia and Acacia, plus buds, leaves and flowers, and will take maize, sunflower and millet crops. Seeds are picked from plants or the ground and husked rapidly with tongue and bill (ADW; WPT). At night lovebirds roost in the nests of white-browed sparrow-weavers and sociable weavers.

Social life

Very social. Groups of 5–20 are typical, with gatherings of 100 or several hundred where grass seeds ripen or at water. Pairs bond strongly and huddle together in cold weather.

Conservation

The species is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN. Heavy trapping for the cage-bird trade caused historical declines in southern Angola, but new water points and buildings have helped it spread in other areas, including towards Lake Ngami (WPT; Wikipedia).

Quick answers