Gray-headed Lovebird
Agapornis canus
Dinky, short-tailed green parrot. Males have a gray head, while females are plain green. Found most commonly in dry forest at low elevation in the north and west of Madagascar. Occurs much less commonly in the east and center, and at higher elevations. Uses open forest, scrub, plantations, and other fairly open habitats. Call is a zesty “vhit,” often given in flight.
Identification
The grey-headed lovebird is one of the smallest species of the lovebird genus, being 13 cm (5 inches) long and weighing about 30–36 grams. Its beak and feet are pale grey. The species is sexually dimorphic: the adult female is entirely green, with a dark green back and wings, a bright green rump, and a paler green chest; the adult male are similarly colored, except that their entire head and upper chest are a pale grey.
Taxonomy
In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description and an illustration of the grey-headed lovebird in his Ornithologie based on a specimen collected in Madagascar. He used the French name La petite perruche de Madagasgar and the Latin Psittacula Madagascariensis. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. The lovebird was subsequently described by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in 1779 and the English ornithologist John Latham in 1781, but neither author included a binomial name. When in 1788 the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin revised and expanded Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae, he included the grey-headed lovebird. He placed it with all the other parrots in the genus Psittacus, coined the binomial name Psittacus canus and cited the earlier publications. The grey-headed lovebird is now placed with seven other lovebirds in the genus Agapornis that was introduced by the English naturalist Prideaux John Selby in 1836. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek αγάπη agape meaning "love" and όρνις ornis meaning "bird". The specific epithet canus is the Latin word for "grey".<p>Two subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Agapornis canus
- Authority
- (Gmelin, JF, 1788)
- Order
- Psittaciformes
- Family
- Psittaculidae
- Genus
- Agapornis
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Grey-headed lovebirds are strong fliers, and when open, their wings seem larger in relation to their bodies than those of the peach-faced lovebird. They can develop good speed quite quickly and effortlessly, and turn smoothly, though they are not as nimble in the air as the peach-faced lovebirds.
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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