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 See All Data at Google Maps Data provided by GBIF.org Scientific Classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Psittaciformes Family: Psittacidae Genus: Agapornis Species: roseicollis

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.

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Unnikrishnan - 2013-04-30 I have got a pair of lutino fischer and Fischer.My Lutino Fischer pair and Fischer pair laid their first egg around 27 Mar 13. They are incubating the eggs all the time and both are cutting the paper and dipping in water and taking to the cage. In this lutino was layed her last egg at 06 Apr 13. But today 30 Apr 13. No egg is hatched. what might be the problem what may the colour of the egg when it is going to be hatched(1 or 2 day before chicks come out). Lutino was mating every day upto last egg layed.In this both lutino's are always in the cage. Hardly in rotation they are coming to take food,bath or tear paper. Today I noticed the fischer's butt is bulged like when it started laying egg.Kindly advice I am a starter in this issues. I clearly sea yesterday 1 of my lutiono's egg is light blackish and 2 have got some bubbles on it and rest 3 are normal.Earlier all 6 are look same. Clarice Brough - 2013-05-01 Lovebirds are very good at taking care of their eggs and their young. It the eggs aren't going to hatch, then the female will simply abandon them. The eggs, if fertile, will take about 28 days to hatch. When breeding there are a few things to consider. Do not disturb the cage when they are breeding or after the eggs are laid. Just feed the birds during this time and make sure they have fresh water. Usually the first few attempts are unsuccessful, and the eggs won't hatch. Also female Fischer lovebirds ares very prone to egg binding, so they must be given plenty of calcium in their diet during breeding and afterwards. Young birds should be discouraged from breeding. Suraj Sadasivan - 2013-05-02 Thank a lot for your kind attention to my post and give reply to my Beginner’s curiosity. That means still hope are there for hatching. Both not abandonded the cage. Last egg was laid around 06 Apr 13. Unnikrishnan - 2013-05-02 Thanks a lot for your kind attention to my post and give reply to my Beginner’s curiosity. That means still hope are there for hatching. Both not abandonded the cage. Last egg was laid around 06 Apr 13. Clarice Brough - 2013-05-02 I understand how concerned each little thing can be, and glad they are still doing okay, maybe there will be babies. If not this time, maybe soon:) Unnikrishnan - 2013-05-20 Today after 54 days also my lutino is incubating the eggs.What should I do now. Today I checked the fischer's nest. There is 15 eggs in that(including the old 5). What should I do now. Unnikrishnan - 2013-05-21 As per ur advice nest of both lutino as well as Fischer has been removed. All 6 eggs of lutino has been candled found all infertile. Surprisingly in Fischer's nest there were 18 eggs. Positioned 9 each and different places.We never see Fischer's are mating. But lutinos are mating frequently.All 18 eggs were candled but none is fertile. As here we doesn't have any DNA testing facility. Is there any way to differentiate male Fischer and Female fischer.We confirmed that our both Fischer's are female. We want to buy two male. Kindly help us to find out which is male and which is female.Thanks for ur all support and kind advice Clarice Brough - 2013-05-20 With that many eggs, it sounds like you may have two females. A normal clutch is 4-6 eggs and the incubation period for Lovebirds is 21 to 26 days. Eggs that are 54 days old are infertile. To check to see if the eggs are fertile you can candle them. Hold the eggs gently near a bright light. If you can clearly see a dark spot surrounded by blood vessels, the egg is fertile. Be aware that successive egg laying takes take a toll on females which can cause them to become eggbound. An eggbound female will require immediate vet care, and can still die. Your best bet may be to take down the nest box and not encourage breeding. Clarice Brough - 2013-05-21 So glad to know that helped and you could determine if the eggs were fertile. As far as sexing, these birds are very difficult to sex so it's best to work with an experienced breeder. But some things that can help to indicate differences are: when you feel the pelvic bones on the females they will be wider apart than on the males. Also in behavior, when the birds are undisturbed... (like they don't know they are being watched), females will tend to hunch down more on their perches while males tend to stand more upright. Still, its \difficult to tell. Good luck to you guys, and let me know how it goes! Reply

Joan - 2005-10-01 Our lutino, Beaker, was hand raised in 1990. He's very sweet and beautiful. He has been known to chew the edges off an expensive paper lampshade and also the gilt off an antique picture frame! After that, we learned our lesson and keep his wings slightly clipped so he will stay on our shoulder. He goes outside with us, loves the garden dirt, goes nuts for fresh raspberries, and screeches shrilly at other birds. He becomes very agitated if we walk away from him. While in the care of a friend, he watched their female bird shred paper for her nest. Now his favorite pasttime is shredding paper, in cage or out! He also lifts the moveable doors on his cage and lets them smash down. This he does over and over w/o giving up as his signal that he wants to come out. It can become quite annoying! One thing: the lovebird DOES NEED COMPANIONSHIP!! He will get sick w/o it; we learned this the hard way. He became neurotic and began chewing his back end, pulling out the feathers until he was bald and raw! We had to love him back to health and now make a point of always touching him and letting him out on our shoulder. We wear a towel clipped with a clothespin to keep our shirt clean, and after he has been loved, he nestles in our neck or under our chin. While on our shoulder he eats our human food and takes frequent drinks of water. He loves a water bath and takes one every day with his cool, fresh water. Reply

devindrac - 2006-01-27 I have many african lovebirds but lutinos remains my favourite,and my doubt whether to keep them in colonies or not is also solved, thanks for the information Reply

Laura Toth - 2005-10-04 Love your site. Thanks for info on Lutino Peach Faced Lovebirds - My favorites! Reply

sabby - 2013-05-16 can a peach face and lutino produce okay babys? Clarice Brough - 2013-05-16 The Lutino Peachface Lovebird is the same species as the normal Peachface Lovebird. The same species of lovebird can breed just fine, but if you are breeding for a particular mutation, then you want to look at the genetics. Reply

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