My Experiance With Madagascar Lovebirds
You’ve probably seen the rare grey headed lovebird advertised every now and then online. I will share with you my personal experience with these delicate creatures.The Madagascar lovebird also known as Agapornis canus or the grey headed lovebird are one of the rarest love birds you can find In this section I will cover my experience and also other breeders I know who have bred them.I think many people who breed love birds are curious about the Madagascar love bird species. I too was intrigued as to what it would be like to breed these mysterious little creatures and so I decided to do my research. After spending a few weeks learning about them. I found out that they are only advised for expert bird breeders and act different to other love bird species. Well me being confident and up for the challenge I decided to jump right in and purchase two proven pairs.Before I purchased these birds I first thought that despite them being a little more territorial they would integrate with my yellow fischer’s love birds. Boy was I wrong. Upon first setting eyes on the birds I realised just how actually small they are. After being used to seeing fischer’s lovebirds the Agapornis canus looked more like a member of the finch family. A tiny little Tasmanian devil of a bird that flew at what looked about 100mph. But after traveling 200 miles to pick them up.There was no way I was going to leave with out them. So I purchased both pairs at a great price and took them home.Aviary Set Up – I first housed these birds in a single large aviary. There was no nest boxes added as I wanted to allow them 3 months to settle. The two pairs seemed to get along fine although the normal lovebird/parakeet seed mix they did not touch. They never touched any fruit or vegetables even though they were persistently introduced and offered. The only bird food they show interest in was millet. So I brought some ‘special budgie’ mix that only contained tiny seeds and they happily ate that.Cohabiting – After three months all was going well and so I decided to put nest boxes at either end of the aviary. There territorial side certainly came out in force after about two weeks. One of the females began attacking the slightly smaller female and would not let her enter any nest boxes. Then the male from the opposite pair started to attack the aggressive females mate. I soon realised there was no way of getting these pairs of Madagascar lovebirds to cohabit. So the divider went in and tranquillity soon followed.Breeding – The grey headed lovebird pairs have a very short breeding window from September onwards. They are very picky about everything and would not touch willow. Only fresh bay laurel leafs would be accepted and the females would put them in there wings and build there nest. I had some good success with breeding these birds although after a couple years I decided to concentrate solely on fischer’s.Negatives – Make no mistake about it, these birds are not like any other love bird you will come across. You will never be able to take a hands on approach with these birds and will never be able to hand rear them. There as wild as a lion and even small tasks such as checking a nest box for eggs is near on impossible with these birds. They are very susceptible to stress and I have read on many occasions were other breeders birds have even died due to this. They are known to abandon nests if disturbed. They will never be suitable for double breeders as they go berserk the moment you get anywhere near them.Who These Birds Are For – The only people who should attempt to breed and preserve this endangered species is real specialists with a large space aviary for them to be thrive in. You must be happy to take a hands off approach and keep from disturbing these birds to an absolute minimum. You have to respect how wild and fragile these birds actually are make sure you definitely have the resources and knowledge for this challenge.Remember This Bird Is On The Cites Endangered Species List So All Efforts Must Be Taken To Preserve These Fragile Complicated Little Birds. Do Not Take On The Challenge Unless You Know Your Capable Of Achieving Success With Them
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