Animal Encounters VI

Greetings folks! Welcome to Animal Encounters, where I talk about a certain animal from my workplace at the Bristol Zoo each week. This week we've got the lovely

BLACK-CHEEKED LOVEBIRDS

This small parrot is mainly green with an orange patch on the breast, brown head and black face, with a white ring around the eye. They are around 14 cm long, with a very short tail. Much of a lovebird's day is spent feeding on grass seeds near the ground. If danger threatens, the birds fly silently up into the nearest tree. Drinking from pools and waterholes is an important part of a lovebird's day - the food they eat is often low in moisture so they need an additional source of water. They sleep with their heads tucked under their wing, or resting on their orange breast.

"Honey, who are you looking at?"

Unlike other lovebird species, these birds are not so often seen perched as a close pair, but partners do usually perch nearby one another. It is believed that pairs mate for life. Birds gather in large noisy groups to drink at pools. Lovebirds will often feed on seeds and fruits alongside other birds such as weavers and mammals such as squirrels.

"I'm pretending to be deaf"

The black-checked lovebird is Africa's most endangered parrot. There is an estimated 20% chance that this species will go extinct in the wild within the next 20 years. Restricted to approximately 6,000 sq km in southern Zambia, where the wild population is below 10,000. In the 1920's they suffered from extensive trapping for the pet trade. The population has never fully recovered, probably because less millet (one of their favourite foods) is grown and the area in which they live has become much drier. As a popular cage bird, there is still a real risk that trapping could again become a problem.

"Your place or mine?"

So its a pretty grim outlook for the lovebirds. Will they still be lovers? Tune in next week to find out.....