Animal-World > Birds > Lovebirds > Lutino Lovebird

Lutino Lovebird

Lutino Peach-faced Lovebird

Family: PsittacidaePair of Lutino LovebirdsAgapornis roseicollisPhoto © Animal-World: Courtesy David Brough

   The Lutino Peach-faced Lovebird, with it's golden yellow plumage and it's peachie face, is said by many to be the most beautiful of all lovebirds!

   The most popular mutation of Peach-faced Lovebird is the Lutino Lovebird, followed closely in popularity by the beautiful Dutch Blue Lovebird. Both of these birds have all the wonderful charm and characteristics of the Peach-faced, being active, playful, and amusing. They are intelligent little birds and make a wonderful companion and friend.

   The Lutino Lovebird makes a great beginner bird as they are relatively hardy, easy to care for, and will readily breed. A hand-raised Lutino Lovebird is an incredibly affectionate and fun companion. As they are quite intelligent and aware, even an untamed lovebird will watch it's caretaker with curiosity and readily interact. They are also very brave little birds, and like a child, much be supervised carefully when out of their cage to make sure they don't get themselves into trouble.

   The Lutino Lovebirds are very social and love companionship. Their natural behavior is to live closely with a companion so are often kept with another lovebird. Though they make a very fine and affectionate pet when hand-raised, they will need a lot of attention if kept singly. Most are kept in pairs to satisfy their considerable need for constant companionship, mutual preening, and socialization.

For more information and the care of Lovebirds see:
Guide to a Happy, Healthy Lovebird

Geographic Distribution Agapornis roseicollis Data provided by GBIF.org Scientific Classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Psittaciformes Family: Psittacidae

Scientific Name: Agapornis roseicollis var.

Description:    The Lutino Lovebird, a particularly striking bird with an overall yellow coloring and a bright red face, is a mutation of the Peach-faced Lovebird. The lutino mutation is a sex-linked gene. It acts by removing removing all of the melanin, the dark pigment, from the bird while the pigments of yellow and red are uneffected.
   There are two other sex-linked mutations which work to partially remove or dilute the melanin. They are called cinnamon, or sometimes 'fallow'. The darker of the two is the American cinnamon and can be described as a light green. The other is the Australian cinnamon, which is a very light greenish-yellow.

Size - Weight:    The Lutino Lovebird will get up to about 6" - 7" (16 - 18 cm) in length.

Care and feeding:    A roomy cage is required as lovebirds are very active. If you have a tame pet that is kept in a small cage, it needs to be let out for extended periods to fly about. Your pet they will enjoy a variety of seeds, fruits, vegetables, and commercial pellets.
   See About Lovebirds: Housing and About Lovebirds: Care and Feeding for more information.

Social Behaviors:    A lovebird is a very social bird with it's companion, and it is generally thought to be essential for their good health and happiness that they be kept in pairs rather than singly. They can, however, be aggressive towards other birds in an aviary setting.

Activities:    Loves to fly, climb, and play. Provide lots of room and lots of toys.

Breeding/Reproduction:    The Lutino Lovebird is excellent for the beginning breeder. These birds will breed well in either colonies or in a single pair, and have the same behaviors as the Peach-faced Lovebird. When you provide them with a nest box, be sure to also provide lots of willow twigs, palm fronds, or other nesting materials as they will build a small nest of their own inside of the nest box. They will carry the nesting materials between their back and rump feathers.
   The hen will lay four to five eggs which are incubated for about 23 days. The young fledge (leave the nest) in about 30 to 38 days but will still be dependent until about 43 days. When they become independent, remove the young to their own housing.
    See About Lovebirds: Breeding/Reproduction for more information on breeding.

Potential Problems:    This bird has a moderate but metallic shriek and can be somewhat noisy for parts of the day.
   See About Lovebirds: Potential Problems for information on illnesses.

Availability:   The Lutino Lovebird is very popular and is readily available.

Author: Clarice Brough, CAS

Lastest Comments on Lutino Lovebird View all 37 comments on Lutino Lovebird Add Your Comment

BVS Varma - 2012-05-03 I have a pair of love birds, they laid eggs for 3 times, but all the 3 times the eggs are not hatched. When I break the eggs there was nothing inside(dried). What should I do? Charlie Roche - 2012-05-03 You are sure you do not have two females? I would think not because normally you would then have double the eggs. My guess is that the male and female are just not getting the cloacas lined up and balanced or the male in his fun, is throwing the female off balance or even off the perch. Take a second perch and put it above the first about an inch and about an inch away from the first. That will allow the female to perch on the lower one but hang on the the higher one with her beak. She will be more stable and hopefully when he does his thing, they will line up and the female will be balanced and it will take. Reply

fahad shah - 2012-04-26 I have one pair of lutino lovebirds. In first clutch they had 5 chicks but in 2nd and 3rd clutch they will fail. What is the problem. In 2nd and 3rd clutch after completion of incubation period when I broke the eggs some chicks are died in the eggs........ Charlie Roche - 2012-04-26 This happens. The chicks might not have been strong enough to break through the sheel. What they call draw down - where the white part is absorbed may have occured to fast because of lack of humidity and suffocated the chicks. Place a bowl of water so the mom can bathe and she will keep a higher humidity in the nest box because somehow they seem to know to bathe in the water and then sit the eggs. You can lightly spray in the next box (just the substrate) to raise humidity. If the chicks were fully developed but sorta looked stuck - then it was probably the humidity. Reply

racheljay - 2005-07-09 i love this bird Anonymous - 2012-02-15 So do I! paul - 2012-04-07 So do I, also Reply

jcmiller - 2011-10-16 I adopted my lovebird from someone that did not want it anymore. I am trying to get it used to us but every time we get close to the cage or put our hand in it runs to the other side of the cage and starts chirping. It won't have anything to do with us. We have had it a week now. Does anyone have ideas so we can bond with this cute scarred little bird. Pebbles - 2012-01-31 Give him some time and he'll get used to you. What you can do in the mean time is walk over very slowly to the cage and speak to him or her very softly. Make sure your cage is not in a busy area of the house, try to give him a place where he or she can feel more secure. With time and patience your lovebird will come around. Reply

chetan - 2011-03-17 My lutino love bird (male) is sleeping all day, and has become very inactive, keeps his eyes closed mostly ....what to do? tamara - 2012-02-19 My Lutino does the same, but he has red eyes so I was wondering if the bright light hurts his eyes ? And he is very unsocial. katrna gonzales - 2012-03-07 Maybe your bird needs more attention... you must give him some time to play with you... I have a pair of birds, teddy and bunny bird. They are so playful.. and all the things that mentioned above is their characteristics.. I love them. Reply

Nahvi - 2011-09-10 Do Lutino Lovebird speaks and how to make them friendly .... Toby Jungle - 2011-09-10 I have never heard a lovebird speak clearly. I have heard them go helllllllllllloooooo in a real strange way. More I think I thought that they were trying to sound like a human. Making them friendly. Lot depends on if hand fed, wild, parent reared and if they have ever been handled at all. The thing to start is to get them used to you and your voice. You are the King Kong in their kitchen. If you were King Kong and you wanted to make freinds with a human - how would you do it? Slowly. Move slow and talk slowly and whistele or even get a beat going. Sounds can be fun. Put favorite foods outside the cage door or just sit down with them every time you eat. Share your food by putting it in a little flat dish outside their cage door. Mashed potatoes are great. Chicken is good. Scramble eggs are wonderful. Let them get used to eating with you and then start holding special tidbits in your hand so they get used to your hand. Hold you hand out flat and let them get in your hand and get the tidbit. Eventually - just pick them up and hold them to your chest until calm - letting them hear your heat beat. Pet on the top of the head. Now you have it made. So - just go slow and share your food. Then hand them your food. Then hold your food for them. Remember you are King Kong in their kitchen. This takes time - weeks - not years and you have time. Meanwhile, enjoy them and watch them and get used to them and it will take that long for them to get used to you. Pebbles - 2012-01-31 I have heard that some can speak a few words like pretty baby and hello. It all just depends but lovebirds in general are not great talkers. Reply

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