Animal Diversity Web

Ge­o­graphic Range

Peach-faced or rosy-cheeked love­birds (Aga­por­nis ro­se­icol­lis) have a range cen­tered on the south-west­ern por­tion of Africa. They in­habit the north-west cor­ner of South Africa, through the west­ern half of Namibia, and into the south­west cor­ner of An­gola. The area around Lake Ngami is quickly be­com­ing pop­u­lated by A. ro­se­icol­lis due to nat­ural range ex­pan­sion. This species is kept as a cage bird in many parts of the world, in­clud­ing the United States and Japan. (De Grahl, 1984; Rowan, 1983)

• Biogeographic Regions
• ethiopian
  • native

Habi­tat

Aga­por­nis ro­se­icol­lis lives in dry re­gions near per­ma­nent stand­ing water. Habi­tats used by this species in­clude the out­skirts of deserts and wood­lands, and poorly wooded areas, as long as the few trees are lo­cated near water. Pre­ferred re­gions vary from sea level to el­e­va­tions over 1500 m. (Rowan, 1983)

• Habitat Regions
• tropical
• terrestrial

• Terrestrial Biomes
• desert or dune
• forest

• Other Habitat Features
• riparian

• Range elevation

  0 to 1500 m

  0.00 to 4921.26 ft

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

Aga­por­nis ro­se­icol­lis is widely re­garded as one of the most beau­ti­ful love­bird species. These birds weigh about 55 g, and are 15 cm long. Fe­males tend to be slightly heav­ier than males. Wingspans range from 98 mm to 102 mm in males, and 99 mm to 106 mm in fe­males. The av­er­age wingspans for males and fe­males are 99.6 and 102.6 mm, re­spec­tively.

This species shows age-re­lated and, to a lesser ex­tent, sex­ual vari­a­tion in col­oration. Males have rosy pink fore­heads, chins, throats, upper breasts and cheeks. The re­main­der of the body is typ­i­cally bright green, al­though the un­der­side is slightly lighter. The feet are a mix of green­ish-grey and the bill is horn-col­ored. The rump and the feath­ers cov­er­ing the tail are bright blue; the tail feath­ers them­selves are green with blue tips, and all but the cen­tral feath­ers have a black band with red patches to­ward the end. The fe­males of this species are very sim­i­lar but slightly duller in color.

The young ini­tially have much paler faces than adults. Birghter feath­ers erupt after their first molt at around 4 months of age. Also, the upper mandible of young birds is black at first, only later be­com­ing the horn-color com­mon in adults.

There are two sub­species of A. ro­se­icol­lis; these are A. ro­se­icol­lis ro­se­icol­lis, and A. ro­se­icol­lis catum­bella. Aga­por­nis ro­se­icol­lis catum­bella can be rec­og­nized by its brighter col­ors. The throat is much red­der with a touch of laven­der. The green color is much deeper, and the rump is more pur­ple than blue. The beak is also much dif­fer­ent than that de­scribed above; it is white with green dots. Aga­por­nis ro­se­icol­lis catum­bella is less com­mon than A. ro­se­icol­lis ro­se­icol­lis, and it typ­i­cally in­hab­its the small re­gion of Benguela, an area of An­gola.

A blue mu­ta­tion oc­curs in both the wild and in cap­tiv­ity, al­though it is not par­tic­u­larly com­mon. In cap­tiv­ity, sev­eral color mu­ta­tions of this species have been se­lec­tively bred. (Rowan, 1983; Smith, 1979; Vriends, 1978)

• Other Physical Features
• endothermic
• homoiothermic
• bilateral symmetry
• polymorphic

• Sexual Dimorphism
• female larger
• male more colorful

• Range mass

  48 to 61 g

  1.69 to 2.15 oz

• Average mass

  54.8 g

  1.93 oz

• Average length

  15 cm

  5.91 in

• Range wingspan

  98 to 102 mm

  3.86 to 4.02 in

• Average wingspan

  99.6 mm

  3.92 in

Re­pro­duc­tion

In this species pair for­ma­tion is very rapid and can occur at as early an age as two months. Pairs formed be­tween sib­lings are not un­com­mon. Fe­males are dom­i­nant and males wait for fe­male ap­proval be­fore ap­proach­ing. Fe­males show this ap­proval by as­sum­ing a fluffed po­si­tion.

Males feed their mates dur­ing courtship. Be­cause feed­ing is an im­por­tant com­po­nent of the in­ter­ac­tion be­tween mates, males use head bob­bing, sim­i­lar to the move­ment used in feed­ing, to at­tract fe­males. Scratch­ing is also used dur­ing courtship. A male will po­si­tion him­self near a fe­male and scratch her head, es­pe­cially the area around the beak and the beak it­self. When a male is try­ing to ap­proach a fe­male, he creeps to­wards her in a side­ways fash­ion known as sidling. If she ap­pears ag­gres­sive, he tries to ap­proach from the other side in a process known as switch sidling; how­ever, if she seems re­cep­tive he con­tin­ues sidling to­ward her. (Rowan, 1983)

• Mating System
• monogamous

Aga­por­nis ro­se­icol­lis has been ob­served to be a sea­sonal breeder in the wild, but in cap­tiv­ity can breed year-round. Its eggs are typ­i­cally 23.5 x 17.3 mm. On av­er­age, 4 to 6 eggs are laid in one sea­son. In cap­tiv­ity as many as 8 have been laid. Eggs hatch after about 23 days of in­cu­ba­tion, and young fledge at about 43 days of age. The young begin to form pairs at around 2 months of age, and also begin to seek their own nests at this time. (Rowan, 1983)

• Key Reproductive Features
• iteroparous
• seasonal breeding
• gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
• sexual
• oviparous

• Breeding interval

  Agapornis roseicollis is a seasonal breeder in the wild, and a year-round breeder in captivity. This has led some ornithologists to conclude that the species breeds when conditions are favorable, not at a specific time of the year.

• Breeding season

  It is hypothesized, though not certain, that breeding takes place between February and May in the wild.

• Range eggs per season

  4 to 6

• Average time to hatching

  23.3 days

• Average fledging age

  42.8 days

• Average time to independence

  2 months

• Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)

  2 months

• Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)

  2 months

Eggs are laid every other day dur­ing the breed­ing sea­son. Be­gin­ning when the first egg is laid, a fe­male spends the ma­jor­ity of her time in the nest in­cu­bat­ing the eggs. Males often bring their mates food dur­ing the pe­riod of in­cu­ba­tion. The av­er­age in­cu­ba­tion pe­riod is 23.3 days.

After the young hatch, a fe­male re­gur­gi­tates food brought to her by the male to feed the young. Food that the young eat has there­fore been re­gur­gi­tated twice. Start­ing mid­way through the nestling pe­riod, which lasts be­tween 5 and 6 weeks, both par­ents feed the young di­rectly.

Lit­tle is known about the be­hav­ior of wild A. ro­se­icol­lis in re­gards to parental in­vest­ment after fledg­ing. In cap­tiv­ity, the young re­main de­pen­dent upon the par­ents for two more weeks and fre­quently fly back to the nest to re­ceive food; this hap­pens for as long as the par­ents per­mit. When the young leave the nest, after around 42.8 days, they are fully feath­ered and able to fly.

Aga­por­nis ro­se­icol­lis shows vari­abil­ity in both nest choice and nest usage. In the wild, these birds com­monly breed in the large, com­mu­nal nests of so­cia­ble weavers. They also use the nests of white-browed spar­row-weavers. It is not known if A. ro­se­icol­lis forces these other birds out of their nests or if they use va­cated nests. In cap­tiv­ity A. ro­se­icol­lis pairs build their own nests. A fe­male pre­pares strips of bark by cut­ting them with her beak into rel­a­tively uni­form shapes and sizes. To carry the bark to the nest site, a fe­male tucks them into the feath­ers of her rump. To­gether the male and fe­male build the nest in the shape of a deep cup using bark, leaves, and grass. (De Grahl, 1984; Rowan, 1983; Vriends, 1978)

• Parental Investment
• altricial
• pre-fertilization
  • provisioning
  • protecting
    • female
• pre-hatching/birth
  • provisioning
    • female
  • protecting
    • male
    • female
• pre-weaning/fledging
  • provisioning
    • male
    • female
  • protecting
    • male
    • female
• pre-independence
  • provisioning
    • male
    • female
• post-independence association with parents

Lifes­pan/Longevity

The typ­i­cal lifes­pan in cap­tiv­ity of A. ro­se­icol­lis is 15 to 25 years. It is not known what lim­its the lifes­pan of this species. It is also not known what the typ­i­cal lifes­pan in the wild is, al­though it is likely to be shorter than that seen in cap­tiv­ity. (De Grahl, 1984)

• Range lifespan
  Status: captivity

  15 to 25 years

Be­hav­ior

Aga­por­nis ro­se­icol­lis is a very so­cial bird. It tends to move around in flocks of at least 5, with typ­i­cal groups sizes rang­ing be­tween 5 and 20 birds. At times, usu­ally when grass seeds ripen in their nat­ural en­vi­ron­ment, groups of about 100 are not un­com­mon.

Move­ment is pri­mar­ily by flight, but over short dis­tances these birds pre­fer to walk or sidle side­ways. This species has been recorded fly­ing at 58 km/hr. Long flights are reg­u­larly in­ter­rupted by pe­ri­ods of glid­ing. Glid­ing pe­ri­ods are most often ac­com­pa­nied by a char­ac­ter­is­tic squawk­ing sound. These birds can climb up ver­ti­cal walls using feet and beak, often beat­ing their wings rapidly to fa­cil­i­tate move­ment.

Al­lo­preen­ing and bathing are be­hav­iors ob­served in these birds, but water bathing in this species is far less com­mon than in other Aga­por­nis species.

When cold, the birds fluff their feath­ers out and even hud­dle to­gether in pairs or in groups of 4 or 5 in order to con­serve heat.

Aga­por­nis ro­se­icol­lis sleeps at night and is ac­tive in the day. At night these love birds roost in the nests of the white-browed spar­row-weavers or of so­cia­ble weavers. (Rowan, 1983; Rowan, 1983; Vriends, 1978)

• Key Behaviors
• arboreal
• flies
• glides
• diurnal
• motile
• sedentary
• social
• colonial

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Per­cep­tion

This love­bird makes a sharp screech­ing noise. This can be given as a sin­gle sound or as a se­ries of squawks. This species also can make a soft, rasp­ing me­chan­i­cal noise by rub­bing its mandibles to­gether. Mates com­mu­ni­cate for breed­ing pur­poses as dis­cussed in the pre­vi­ous sec­tion on mat­ing sys­tems, using vi­sual sig­nals like bob­bing. These birds also al­lo­preen as a form of com­mu­ni­ca­tion and to help main­tain the pair bond. (Rowan, 1983)

• Communication Channels
• visual
• tactile
• acoustic

• Perception Channels
• visual
• tactile
• acoustic
• chemical

Food Habits

Aga­por­nis ro­se­icol­lis typ­i­cally feeds on seeds, es­pe­cially seeds na­tive to its habi­tat, such as those from Al­bizia and Aca­cia. It eats the seeds by ei­ther pick­ing them off grow­ing plants or by pick­ing them up off the ground, then husk­ing them rapidly using the tongue, mandible and the cut­ting edge of the max­illa. It feeds on flow­ers by pluck­ing them from trees and clip­ping off the petals and sta­mens with the beak. This species is known to drink water sev­eral times per day in order to cope with the de­mands placed upon it by the hot, arid habi­tat in which it lives. (Rowan, 1983)

• Primary Diet
• herbivore
  • granivore

• Plant Foods
• seeds, grains, and nuts
• flowers

Pre­da­tion

Aga­por­nis ro­se­icol­lis deals with preda­tors by mob­bing. As part of their mob­bing be­hav­ior, in­di­vid­u­als ini­tially stand up­right and squawk loudly. If the preda­tor moves closer, they flap their wings wildly, hold­ing their bod­ies erect, and in­crease their squawk­ing to even higher-pitched squeaks. They also move to­ward the at­tacker as if to at­tack. If the preda­tor does not back down, large groups of birds will at­tack. (Smith, 1979)

• Known Predators

  • none known

Ecosys­tem Roles

Aga­por­nis ro­se­icol­lis has two known par­a­sites. These are the ec­topar­a­sites Pel­lonys­sus vi­a­tor, a mite, and the feather louse Afrimeno­pon waar Am­blyc­era. Other ways that this species af­fects its ecosys­tem are through its in­ter­ac­tions with other species of birds, es­pe­cially the ones whose nests it uses. As a re­sult of its seed-based diet, A. ro­se­icol­lis prob­a­bly has some im­pact on plant ecol­ogy. (Rowan, 1983)

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Pos­i­tive

Aga­por­nis ro­se­icol­lis has lit­tle pos­i­tive eco­nomic im­por­tance for hu­mans apart from its pop­u­lar­ity as a cage bird. This species is found all over the world as a pet, and its many color mu­ta­tions and out­go­ing per­son­al­ity make it a fa­vorite. A sec­ond, and more minor eco­nomic value, is tourism. Peo­ple from around the world take trips to Africa, often to the area around Lake Ngami, now part of this species' ter­ri­tory, to see the beau­ti­ful wildlife. (De Grahl, 1984; Smith, 1979; Vriends, 1978)

• Positive Impacts
• pet trade
• ecotourism

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Neg­a­tive

Aga­por­nis ro­se­icol­lis also has few neg­a­tive af­fects on hu­mans, with the no­table ex­cep­tion of the dam­age it causes to farm­ers’ seed crops. It is an im­por­tant pest on mil­let and other small-grained crops, which has led to a rapid pop­u­la­tion de­cline due of per­se­cu­tion by farm­ers try­ing to pro­tect their crops. (Smith, 1979; Vriends, 1978)

• Negative Impacts
• crop pest

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

Aga­por­nis ro­se­icol­lis is not cur­rently con­sid­ered a threat­ened or en­dan­gered species.

• IUCN Red List

  Least Concern
  More information

• IUCN Red List

  Least Concern
  More information

• US Migratory Bird Act

  No special status

• US Federal List

  No special status

• CITES

  No special status

Other Com­ments

Aga­por­nis ro­se­icol­lis has a long his­tory of being kept and bred in cap­tiv­ity, but it has not been widely stud­ied in the wild. The first record the peach-faced love­bird in cap­tiv­ity is from 1869. (Smith, 1979)

Con­trib­u­tors

Nancy Shef­ferly (ed­i­tor), An­i­mal Di­ver­sity Web.

Pamela Ras­mussen (ed­i­tor, in­struc­tor), Michi­gan State Uni­ver­sity, Jes­sica Vonck (au­thor), Michi­gan State Uni­ver­sity.

Ref­er­ences

De Grahl, W. 1984. The Par­rot Fam­ily. New York: Arco Pub­lish­ing, Inc.

Rowan, M. 1983. The Doves, Par­rots, Louries and Cuck­oos of South­ern Africa. Clare­mont, South Africa: David Phillip.

Smith, G. 1979. Love­birds and Re­lated Par­rots. Lon­don: Paul Elek Ltd.

Vriends, M. 1978. En­cy­clo­pe­dia of Love­birds. Nep­tune, N.J.: T. F. H. Pub­li­ca­tions, Inc. Ltd.