Agapornis swindernianus - Black-collared Lovebird
Photo: Dérozier Violette – Licensed under the Creative Commons CC BY -NC 4.0 license
Black-collared Lovebird – Agapornis swindernianus (Kuhl, 1820) – is a small African parrot with a predominantly green plumage. It is widespread in several African countries around the equator.
They hide in the top of the trees and are quite shy. Often seen in small flocks of up to 20 birds.
They are extremely rare in captivity as their food is based on seeds, fruit and berries from local trees and shrubs and they do not flourish without them.
It is listed on CITES Appendix II and EU Annex B.
Description
Mostly green with black-collared nape. The chest has a lighter green and the wings a darker green color.
The top of the chest is reddish-brown. The iris is yellow. The beak is dark gray or black.
Male and female are similar.
Size: approx. 13.5 cm
Subspecies
Three subspecies are recognized:
- Agapornis swindernianus swindernianus (Kuhl, 1820) : Nominate form – see description above.
- Agapornis swindernianus emini (Neumann, 1908) : Red/brown neck below the black collar that extends to the breast as a wash.
- Agapornis swindernianus zenkeri (Reichenow, 1895) : Similar to A.s. emini.
Habitat
Central and western Africa. The three subspecies live in the following regions:
- Agapornis swindernianus swindernianus : Liberia, Ivory Coast and Ghana.
- Agapornis swindernianus emini : Lowland forests of northern, central and eastern DR Congo and western Uganda.
- Agapornis swindernianus zenkeri : Cameroon to south-western Central African Republic and western DR Congo.
Diet
The main part of their diet is based on certain native fig seed or fig flesh.
They also eat millet, corn and other seeds as well as insects and larvae.
Aviculture
Black-collared Lovebird require certain native fig seed or fig flesh as a basis of their daily diet – they do not thrive well without these. For this reason they are rarely kept in captivity.
Taxonomy
- Order: Psittaciformes
- Family: Psittaculidae
- Genus: Agapornis
Synonyms
- Danish: Grønhovedet Dværgpapegøje
- English: Black-collared Lovebird, Swindern’s Lovebird
- French: Inséparable à collier, Inséparable à collier noir, Inséparable du Libéria
- German: Grünköpchen
- Portuguese: Inseparável-acollarado
- Spanish: Inseparable Acollarado, Inseparable de Cuello Negro
- Scientific: Agapornis swindernianus
IUCN Red List
https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22685338A130102440.en
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