written about lovebirds<\/a>.<\/p>\nAnother kind of lovebird, the Fischer\u2019s lovebird, appear to have established a small colony on the southern coast of Portugal, he said. <\/p>\n
How did the birds get their name?<\/p>\n
Lovebirds earned their name because of their tendency to form lifelong bonds with their mates, who like to perch close together, almost like they\u2019re cuddling. While many parrots mate for life, fewer than half of bird species do, Kaufman said. <\/p>\n
While genetic testing has revealed that birds considered \u201csocially monogamous\u201d sometimes also breed with other birds while raising their young with their mate, lovebirds are not known to stray. They often clean their mate\u2019s feathers, especially the hard-to-reach ones, and feed one another food throughout their lives, not just when they are courting, like some other birds, Kaufman said.<\/p>\n
People who have kept lovebirds as pets report that their mate seems depressed when they lose their partner by not being active or making abnormal calls, said Dr. Stephanie Lamb, associate veterinarian and bird specialist at the Arizona Exotic Animal Hospital. <\/p>\n
How do parrots display affection?<\/p>\n
Even when they are with other birds, lovebirds are not afraid to engage in some PDA \u2014 or as Kaufman says, \u201cparrot display of affection.\u201d They pass food to each other with their beaks, which often looks like kissing, he said. <\/p>\n
But the reality might strike people as not so cute: the food they\u2019re exchanging is regurgitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wouldn\u2019t be quite so romantic if humans were doing it,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
All that care and attention helps keep their bonds strong over their long lives, he said. They live about 20 years, less than bigger parrots but longer than smaller songbirds, he said. <\/p>\n
Still, Lamb said lovebirds, like other parrots, can sometimes be violent with each other, screaming and pecking one another with beaks powerful enough to crack open seeds. Sometimes they have to sit at opposite ends of their cage for a bit, until one comes over and nudges their way back into a cuddle, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen everything\u2019s good,\u201d she said. ___ Slevin reported from Denver.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHOENIX (AP) \u2014 Minutes after getting to a park in the middle of Phoenix, you can see flashes…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":589198,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5131],"tags":[7779,5229,3425,5643,1587,11029,168,57,26621,81747,1165,1589,254881,159,235115,254880,61,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,223110],"class_list":{"0":"post-589197","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-phoenix","8":"tag-africa","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-animals","11":"tag-arizona","12":"tag-az","13":"tag-az-state-wire","14":"tag-domestic-news","15":"tag-general-news","16":"tag-hawaii","17":"tag-hi-state-wire","18":"tag-lifestyle","19":"tag-phoenix","20":"tag-robert-carter","21":"tag-science","22":"tag-send-to-apple-news","23":"tag-stephanie-lamb","24":"tag-u-s-news","25":"tag-united-states","26":"tag-united-states-of-america","27":"tag-unitedstates","28":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","29":"tag-us","30":"tag-usa","31":"tag-valentines-day"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116068492715820814","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=589197"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589197\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/589198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=589197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=589197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=589197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}