Fun Black-winged Lovebird Facts For Kids

The black-winged lovebird (Agapornis taranta) is a really beautiful bird belonging to the family of Psittaculidae and genus Agapornis. This bird is also known as an Abyssinian lovebird as it is most commonly found in the regions of Ethiopia and Eritrea.

This lovebird is black-winged and mostly green throughout the rest of its body. These birds are sexually dimorphic in nature.

An adult male Abyssinian lovebird is often referred to as the red-headed lovebird mainly because of the red feathers surrounding the forehead, however the female Abyssinian lovebird, unlike the male, happens to be predominantly green in color. This magnificent creature can be seen flying in peace across the highlands of Ethiopia.

To read more about awesome birds like these, be sure to check out these interesting facts about the Fischer's lovebird or the beautiful Amazon parrot.

Black-Winged Lovebird Interesting Facts

What type of animal is a black-winged lovebird?

The black-winged lovebird (Agapornis taranta), also known as Abyssinian lovebird, happens to be the largest species of lovebird that can be found in the wild.

What class of animal does a black-winged lovebird belong to?

Like all other lovebirds, the Agapornis taranta, also known as the Abyssinian lovebird, belongs to the animal class of Aves.

How many black-winged lovebirds are there in the world?

The black-winged lovebird (Agapornis taranta) is a species of lovebird that is predominantly found living in the wild, rather than being domesticated like most other species of lovebirds. As of now, the exact number of Abyssinian lovebirds isn't known, however, these birds can frequently be seen flying in various regions across Ethiopia and Eritrea.

The conservation status of these birds is currently listed as Least Concern so we can assume that there these birds have a stable population in the wild.

Where does a black-winged lovebird live?

The black-winged lovebird (Agapornis taranta) is often called the Abyssinian bird because it is mostly found in Abyssinia, an old name for the empire of Ethiopia. These birds can also be found in the country of Eritrea in Africa.

What is a black-winged lovebird's habitat?

The Abyssinian lovebird with all its beauty can be seen flying across the hilly regions, typically in regions of high plains. They have also been seen nesting in tree cavities of various mountainous regions across Ethiopia.

Who do black-winged lovebirds live with?

The black-winged lovebird (Agapornis taranta) happens to be monogamous in nature. These territorial birds tend to live in pairs and can be seen nesting in tree cavities all across the highlands of Ethiopia.

How long does a black-winged lovebird live?

The black-winged lovebird (Agapornis taranta) can be seen living for around 20 years in the wild. However, these birds tend to live much longer in captivity and can be seen living up to almost 30 years.

How do they reproduce?

The reproduction cycle of this species of lovebirds is quite normal compared to many other birds like the Laysan albatross or the red-footed booby. After copulation, female lovebirds are seen laying around three to four eggs.

The females then incubate these eggs for around 25 days. Both parents take the responsibility of looking after the babies until they can fly off on their own, about a month and a half later.

What is their conservation status?

 As of now, the conservation status of the black-winged lovebird (Agapornis taranta) is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN.

Black-Winged Lovebird Fun Facts

What do black-winged lovebirds look like?

The Agapornis taranta, also known as the Abyssinian lovebird, is a creature of pure beauty. This species of lovebirds happen to be sexually dimorphic in nature where adult female birds have a normal green head, but adult males have a red forehead.

However, both sexes of the black-winged lovebird have green feathers spread all over their body.

The end part of the wings of these lovebirds is brownish-black, which is why the Agapornis taranta is also known as black-winged lovebirds. These birds happen to be the largest species of lovebirds that are found in the wild.

How cute are they?

These tiny little birds happen to be extremely cute. The males of this species of lovebirds are much cuter than the females of this species. This is mainly due to the sexual dimorphism trait of these birds. The bright red head of these little parrot-type birds makes them a pretty sight for bird lovers and animal photographers.

How do they communicate?

The black-winged lovebird (Agapornis taranta) happens to be extremely loud, like most other species of lovebirds out there. These birds can be annoying because of the high-pitched screechy noises they produce.

Studies show that all the species of lovebirds make happy noises when they are in a good mood. They are also seen making screechy noises and clicking sounds when they are in need of attention from their lovers.

How big is a black-winged lovebird?

Even though the black-winged lovebird (Agapornis taranta) happens to be really small and really cute, these birds are considered the largest of the species of lovebirds that can be found in the wild. They start growing very fast and almost reach their maximum length within a few weeks.

On average, the black-winged lovebird size happens to be somewhere around 6-6.5 in (15.5-16.5 cm) in length.

Their tail, however, may grow larger, which might be the reason that these tiny creatures are considered to be the largest lovebirds out there. These birds are twice the size of a common hummingbird!

How fast can a black-winged lovebird fly?

There isn't much information available about the flight speed of these lovebirds. However, it is a known fact that lovebirds can spin their head really fast.

These interestingly beautiful creatures have the ability to rotate their head around 2700 degrees within a second! This makes them unique compared to the owl that can only rotate its head around 270 degrees.

How much does a black-winged lovebird weigh?

These lovebirds are typically smaller in size compared to most of the other birds that are found in the forests of Ethiopia. An adult black-winged lovebird is seen to weigh anywhere between 1.5-2.5 oz (50-70 g).

What are the male and female names of the species?

There is not a unique name that can be used to describe the sexes of birds in this species.

It is quite a difficult task to identify the sex of these birds when they are born and usually, their sexes cannot really be determined until they reach a few months of age.

Various factors such as the development of red feathers on top of the forehead of these birds or the black tint showing up at the end parts of their wings help us to determine the sex of these birds.

What would you call a baby black-winged lovebird?

Like the babies of most other birds out there, black-winged lovebird babies can be referred to as chicks or hatchlings.

What do they eat?

These birds happen to be omnivorous in nature. They can be seen eating fruits like apples that are growing on trees, or even sunflower seeds and figs. In some instances, the Abyssinian lovebird can also be seen eating small insects like bees or termites.

Are they dangerous?

These lovebirds are quite territorial and cannot be domesticated. However, rather than being dangerous towards others, we can say that they are more dangerous to themselves. These naughty birds can be seen annoying various other birds and in some cases, even wild animals. Under most circumstances, this sort of confrontation doesn't usually end well for these little creatures.

Would they make a good pet?

Unlike most other lovebirds, these birds are quite territorial and love being in their black-winged lovebird habitat. They don't like human interference and prefer living in the forests away from humans. We can say that these tiny creatures don't really make good pets.

Did you know...

These tiny lovebirds can be seen annoying other birds by biting their toes or pecking on them!

What are some of the different types of lovebirds?

Some of the different species of lovebirds found in the wild include, the yellow-collared lovebird, Fischer's lovebird, Lilian's lovebird, black-cheeked lovebird, peach-faced lovebird, red-headed lovebird, gray-headed lovebird, black-collared lovebird, and lastly the black-winged lovebird.

What is special about the black-winged lovebird's wings?

The wings of these birds are predominantly green in color, however, they usually have a brownish-black tint towards the end part of the wings.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other birds from our peach-faced lovebird facts and Meyer's parrot facts pages. 

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable violet-masked lovebird coloring pages.