Interestingly, across all lovebird
species, the fi rst attempt of the male to
woo the female is met with indifference,
or even a rebuke in the form of a
directed peck. The male’s response
to his less-than-enthusiastic mate is
a combination of sexual appetite and
fear, and consequent frustration. This
explains the behavioural patterns of the
‘mating jig’—eager to copulate with the
female, but apprehensive, the male sidles
towards and away from the female, turning
around on the perch (switch-sidling).
Squeak-twittering in the more primitive,
sexually dimorphic group, is emitted in
response to the female thwarting the
male’s sexual advances by disappearing
into the nest cavity. In A. roseicollis
and the periophthalmic group, squeak-
twittering has evolved to be part of the
courtship ritual, and unlike in the primitive
Agapornis, in which the squeak-twittering
has no recogniseable rhythm and is
variable in tone and pitch, in the more
derived species, squeak-twittering is a
rhythmic series of vocalisations.
Head-scratching too is a displacement
activity in the more primitive lovebirds,
whereas it is part of the courtship
ritual in the more derived species. The
female’s fl uctuating willingness to mate is
communicated through adjustments to her
plumage. The more she fl uffs her plumage,
especially on her head, the readier she is to
mate, and the more the male is encouraged.
The female signals her willingness for
copulation by lowering her body towards
the perch and raising her head and tail,
so that the male can step on her back,
lower his tail to one side of her raised
tail, and copulate by repeatedly making
rhythmically cloacal contact with thrusting
actions. During mating, the male regularly
changes his approach to the alternate
side of the female’s tail. The actual act of
mating lasts about a minute. After mating,
the female usually goes to collect nesting
material, accompanied by her mate.
Dilger’s studies of mating behaviour in
lovebirds revealed that couples improved
as they got to know each other better
and became more familiar with eachother. He described how ‘newly formed
pairs are rather awkward’. But after the
pair have had a few broods ‘they become
more expert and tend more and more to
perform the right activity at the right time’.
The outcome is that the tendency for the
female to respond with aggression when
the male expresses his desire to copulate
lessens and, consequently, as the male’s
sexual advances are not thwarted, the
displacement activities associated with his
sexual frustration lessens. The female also
becomes interested in soliciting copulation
earlier, so the male’s precopulatory bouts
are shorter.HYBRIDISING
The nest-building behaviour of lovebirds
has received much scientifi c attention.
As mentioned in Part 1, fi ve species build
their own nests, and each species has a
species-typical nest-building behaviour.
Studies have revealed that the nest-building
behaviour is largely genetic, rather than
learnt. This is based on the consistency
of courtship and nest-building within a
species, and how a lovebird will display
the behavioural repertoire typical for its
species, irrespective of whether it has been
raised by its own parents, cross-fostered
with parents of a different species, or even
mixed species parents, and how such
behaviour patterns are disrupted in hybrids.
In particular, it has been demonstrated
that hybrids suffer outbreeding depression,
because they inherit a mix of genes of
the two different parental species, which
impairs their ability to successfully
perform the nest-building techniques of
either parental species. In his studies,LIFE-LONG LOVE
As noted in Part 1, lovebird mates choose
each other from a young age and remain
faithful to each other for life. These life-
long lovers reinforce their bonds year-
round through allopreening and perching
together, but during the breeding season
these behaviours intensify, and pairs pay
special attention to lovingly preening each
other’s nape and cheek areas.
In addition, exclusive to courtship,
is the behaviour of offering food. This
loving act involves regurgitating food,
often in response to the female begging
for it by displaying a low body posture
which may be accompanied by soft calls
and wing-fl apping. In the three ‘primitive’
species (non-nest-builders that simply line
an existing cavity), both sexes will feed
each other, whereas in the more ‘derived’
(nest-building) species, offering food to
the mate is the sole prerogative of the
male. Regurgitating food to the female
is a behaviour that carries over through
incubation and the nestling stages. Prior
to regurgitating food to their mates,
males convulsively head-bob. In the more
recently derived periophthalmic group, this
has evolved into a pure ritualistic display
and can occur during courtship without
being followed by feeding the female.
MATING
Mating is preceded by a series of ritualistic
behaviours described as the ‘mating jig’.
This begins with a male perching at the
entrance of the pair’s nest cavity. The male
then performs ritualistic head scratches,
followed by pacing and ‘switch-sidling’
(turning around on the perch several
times), emitting ‘squeak-twittering’ calls,
before head-scratching again, tail-shaking
and head-bobbing, accompanied by actions
mimicking his regurgitation of food to the
female. The mating jig serves to attract the
male’s mate, enticing the female out of the
nest cavity and towards the amorous male.
She may accept his offer of regurgitated
food, and allow the male to mount or, if
he’s unlucky, will turn down his intentions
to copulate and reject him by departing or
bill-lunging at him.
ABOUT BIRDS...
AUTHOR KIT PRENDERGAST BA BSc (Hons)In Part 1 of this article, Kit introduced one of the most endearing of
all parrots, the lovebirds, and detailed their nesting, pairing and
breeding habits in captivity. In Part 2 she will look at their life-long
bond, hybridisation, and studies in the wild.
Nest box in which a female lovebird has laid
a clutch. The nest box has been lined with
twigs and leavesNesting and Breeding Habits of
Agapornis Lovebirds PART 2
K PRENDERGAST