Lovebird Species

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Below is a complete list of all Lovebird species with links to their respective pages that have more in depth information about each individual bird.

Immature Masked Lovebird (8 weeks old) - Blue Mutatio, commonly referred to as “Blue Masked”)

Common Lovebird Species:

Peachface Lovebirds (Agapornis roseicollis)
Black Masked or Masked Lovebirds (Agapornis personata)
Fischers Lovebirds (Agapornis fischeri)

Rare Lovebird Species (frequently referred to as “the rares”)

Lilian’s Lovebirds aka Nyasa Lovebirds (Agapornis lilianae)
Abyssinian Lovebirds (Agapornis taranta)
Black-cheeked Lovebirds (Agapornis nigrigenis)
Black-collared Lovebirds (Agapornis Swindernia)
Madagascar Lovebirds or Grey-headed Lovebirds (Agapornis cana)
Red-faced Lovebirds (Agapornis Pullaria)

Dimorphic Lovebird Species (males and females can visibly be differentiated)

Abyssinian Lovebirds (Agapornis taranta)
- The male has a red forehead, lores and small ring of feathers around the eye.The female has no red markings on the head or eye area.
Madagascar Lovebirds or Grey-headed Lovebirds (Agapornis cana)
- The male has a grey head, back of neck and breast. The rest of his body is green.The female is completely green.
Red-faced Lovebirds (Agapornis Pullaria)
- The male has a bright orange-red face. His underwing coverts (feathers) are black.The female has an orange in the face, which is not as bright red as the male’s. Her underwing coverts (feathers) are green.

Monomorphic Lovebird Species (males and females look alike)

Eye-Rings (white featherless bare skin area around the eyes)

Masked Love Bird (Agapornis Personata)
- Natural plumage mostly green (although blue has also occurred in the wild). The head is brown to sooty black. They have a yellow collar around the neck.
Fischer’s Lovebird (Agapornis Fischeri)
- Natural plumage mostly green. Forehead is bright orange-red, suffusing to dark olive. Other color mutations have been bred in captivity.
Nyasa Lovebird or Lilian’s Lovebird (Agapornis Lilianae)
- Natural plumage mostly green. The head is bright salmon to orange, brighter on the forehead, and paler on the cheeks, throat and upper breast
Black-cheeked Lovebird (Agapornis Nigrigenis)
- Natural plumage mostly green, but slightly darker than that of the Nyasa, and lighter green on the underparts and rump. The head is brownish-black and the throat salmon-colored.

Non-Eye-Rings

Peach-faced Lovebird (Agapornis Roseicollis)
- Natural plumage mostly green with a rose-red face.
Black-collared Lovebird or Swindern’s Lovebird (Agapornis Swinderniana)
- Natural plumage mostly green with a narrow black collar on the nape, with a chrome yellow area below.

Species and subspecies:

Peach-faced Lovebirds or Rosy-faced Lovebirds, Agapornis roseicollis (Vieillot, 1818)
- Agapornis roseicollis catumbella (B.P. Hall, 1952)
- Agapornis roseicollis roseicollis (Vieillot,1818)
Masked Lovebirds aka Eye-rings or Yellow-collared Lovebird, Agapornis personatus (Reichenow, 1887)
Fischer’s Lovebird, Agapornis fischeri (Reichenow, 1887)
Lilian’s Lovebird or Nyasa Lovebird, Agapornis lilianae (Shelley, 1894)
Black-cheeked Lovebird, Agapornis nigrigenis (W.L. Sclater, 1906)
Grey-headed Lovebird or Madagascar Lovebird, Agapornis canus (Gmelin, 1788)
- Agapornis canus ablectaneus (Bangs, 1918)
- Agapornis canus canus (Gmelin, 1788)
Black-winged Lovebird or Abyssinian Lovebird, Agapornis taranta (Stanley, 1814)
Red-headed Lovebird or Red-faced Lovebird, Agapornis pullarius (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Agapornis pullarius pullarius (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Agapornis pullarius ugandae (Neumann, 1908)
Black-collared Lovebird or Swindern’s Lovebird, Agapornis swindernianus (Kuhl, 1820)
- Agapornis swindernianus emini (Neumann, 1908)
- Agapornis swindernianus swindernianus (Kuhl, 1820)
- Agapornis swindernianus zenkeri (Reichenow, 1895)