Dusky Grey-headed Lovebird (Agapornis canus ablectaneus)

Here, the difference on the underside of the primaries is clearly seen between the nominate subspecies, the Pallid Grey-headed Lovebird (Agapornis canus canus), with the yellowish tinge (right) and the subspecies', the Dusky Grey-headed Lovebird (Agapornis canus ablectaneus), bluish tinge (left).

Focus on a subspecies

Over the years, I have wondered that the popular cage bird literature only mentions - and describes - the Dusky Grey-headed Lovebird (Agapornis canus ablectaneus), which is a scientifically recognized subspecies of the Grey-headed Lovebird (Agapornis canus), to a very limited extent. Virtually no aviculturists talk about it, and it is thus one of the most unknown subspecies in the Parrot Family (Psittaciformes).

"Canus" is the Latin word for grey, and "ablectaneus" means selected/exquisite.

Here, the difference on the under wing-coverts is clearly seen between the nominate subspecies' (Pallid Grey-headed Lovebird) black and green feather colours (right) and the subspecies' (Dusky Grey-headed Lovebird) black and bluish-green feathers (left).

Colour description of the Dusky Grey-headed Lovebird in the cage bird literature

In J. L. Albrecht-Møller's "Papegøjebogen" (1973), ("The Parrot Book", only written in Danish) only a very summary description of the subspecies, Dusky Grey-headed Lovebird (Agapornis canus ablectaneus) is given, from which it appears that it is slightly larger than the nominate subspecies, the Pallid Grey-headed Lovebird (Agapornis canus canus). In addition, it is stated that the females do not differ from the nominate subspecies, whereas the grey feathers on the head and neck of the males have a distinct bluish or blue-violet tint compared to the nominate subspecies.

However, Joseph M. Forshaw states the following about the Dusky Grey-headed Lovebird (Agapornis canus ablectaneus) in "Parrots of the World" (1st edition from 1973): "Adults: Generally, the plumage is darker bluish-green with noticeably less yellow; the male's head and breast purer grey with a violet tinge”.

Not much is made of the Dusky Grey-headed Lovebird in the more specialized literature on the Lovebird genus either. Helmut Hampe states in the 1953 edition of "Die Unzertrennlichen" that the Dusky Grey-headed Lovebird has a somewhat more bluish plumage than the nominate subspecies, the grey head colour of the male is more pure grey and the bird is somewhat larger (the wing length is given as 95 mm, where that of the nominate subspecies is 91 mm). Heinz Schwichtenberg states in his edition of "Die Unzertrennlichen" (1970) that the plumage this subspecies is more bluish than the nominate subspecies, and the grey colour on the male's head is purer, just as the bird is slightly larger.

E. N. T. Vane states in the book "Guide to Lovebirds and Parrotlets" (1967) that the subspecies differs in that the grey colour in the head of the males has a purer grey tone than in the nominate subspecies, and that the plumage is generally a slightly darker green. A somewhat similar description has been given by David Alderton in "Lovebirds – Their Care and Breeding" (1979), according to which the Dusky Grey-headed Lovebird is generally darker green in plumage, and the grey colour on the male bird's head is more clearly defined.

Dirk Van den Abeele also has a somewhat imprecise colour description of the Dusky Grey-headed Lovebird in his book "Lovebirds – Owners manual and reference guide" (2005), namely that the plumage of both sexes compared to the nominate subspecies has a darker green colour, to which, that the male bird's head, neck and breast have a deeper grey colour with a violet tint. The same author further states that it is unlikely that the difference between the two forms is still visible among birds bred in captivity. However, the colour photos below show that his assumption is incorrect.

In all cases, these colour descriptions in the popular cage bird literature do not cover in sufficient detail the description of the tail feathers, upper rump, etc., of the Dusky Grey-headed Lovebird. At the same time, the authors within the cage bird literature in relation to the Dusky Grey-headed Lovebird can be divided into two groups, partly the group of authors who state that the plumage is darker green than the the Pallid Grey-headed Lovebird, and partly another group of authors who state that the plumage is bluish green, so what is actually right?

​In addition, you can come across aviculturists around Europe who specialize in breeding the Grey-headed Lovebird (Agapornis canus), but do not divide it into a nominate form and subspecies, but instead talk about the "yellow type" and the "blue type" respectively.

I have therefore sought help from the natural sciences to gain access to the original colour description of the Dusky Grey-headed Lovebird, which science uses, and here Denmark's leading international zoologist specializing in birds, professor emeritus and curator at the Natural History Museum of Denmark (University of Copenhagen), Jon Fjeldså, has been very helpful.

Before the original scientific subspecies description for the Dusky Grey-headed Lovebird is reproduced below, first, perspective is given to how science generally operates with species descriptions (colour descriptions) seen in relation to the popular cage bird literature.

Also, on the underside of the tail feathers, you can clearly see the difference between the nominate subspecies', the Pallid Grey-headed Lovebird, "warm" green colour (right) and the subspecies', the Dusky Grey-headed Lovebird, "cold" bluish feathers (left).

General information about scientific colour description

In general, the nomenclature rules (see the article "Species overview") only specify some standards for the naming of species, whereas no standards or minimum requirements are given for colour descriptions when publishing new bird species or subspecies. It is difficult because the nomenclature rules must apply to descriptions of all living organisms from bacteria to elephants.

Many older descriptions of new bird species (especially back in the 1800’s) were of a very poor standard, so it is very crucial that you take care of type specimens of dead birds, so that it is possible to check the identity to this day. There is often a need to revise a species description and even to initiate new descriptions.

In the popular literature, such as the many books on cage birds, including various bird associations' so-called "standard descriptions" for bird judges, etc., there is no scientific quality control. Any author or association can thus write - or have published - whatever he wants, so it is up to the individual reader to assess its credibility. The situation is very different if you go to the scientific literature, i.e. international professional journals, whose quality is ensured through a peer-to-peer review system, i.e. in that all manuscripts are sent to two (or more) anonymous scientific reviewers who comment, correct and reject manuscripts that do not follow reasonable standards, including substantiation of the claims. Most scientific journals reject as much as 60 – 80 % of submitted manuscripts and virtually all scientific authors have to accept being subjected to extensive revision. If you read recent articles in ornithological journals with descriptions of new bird species or subspecies, they are generally extremely detailed and precise, and have, among other things, references to which specimens have been examined (registration numbers of museum specimens, possible references to image archives, etc.) and description of individual variation. In addition, science uses completely unambiguous colour scales when describing new species, cf. below. Traceability for the purpose of verifying descriptions, claims, etc., is thus alpha and omega within science.

It would be desirable if species descriptions within the cage bird literature etc. starts from the scientific species descriptions, or at least explains their database, but unfortunately this is rarely the case, and thus it is very difficult to guarantee the quality.

On the upper side of the tail, a marked difference can be seen between the nominate subspecies', the Pallid Grey-headed Lovebird, pure green colour and clear yellow colour along the feather shafts (left) and the subspecies', the Dusky Grey-headed Lovebird, bluish tinge in the green colour with the dirty yellow (almost orange-brown) colour along the feather shafts (right).

Scientific species description of Dusky Grey-headed Lovebird (Agapornis canus ablectaneus)

The subspecies designation was made by O. Bangs in 1918, and it is based on a specimen from the Morandava delta in the southwestern part of Madagascar.

This scientific colour specification is of course made in relation to Ridgway's "Colour standard and colour nomenclature" from 1911, which operates with 1,011 named colours based on lightfast mineral pigments. In general, this colour scale was used by science until approximately 1970, but because very few people today have access to (or know about) this publication, the American Museum of Natural History has for approximately 50 years ago published a new one (author Smythe). However, this has significantly fewer colours and some of them are different from similarly named colours given in Ridgway's original publication, which unfortunately can be misleading. As a result of the greater degree of detail in Ridgway's publication, a number of leading scientists, zoologists, etc., worldwide have maintained the use of "Colour standard and colour nomenclature".

It is then quite clear that, according to the original colour description, Agapornis canus ablectaneus is of the so-called "blue type", cf. above. I think that one should especially pay attention to the last part of Bang's description, which mentions the male's main colour as being purer grey since the yellowish colour at the base of the feathers is not present, as is known from the nominate subspecies. O. Bangs thus does not mention a "bluish" or "violet" tint in the male's grey head.

As stated above, it appears from various cage bird literature that you cannot tell the difference between the 2 different types of females. This is not right, you can, which both the original scientific species description and the photos attached to this article show.

On these two young male birds, you can see the marked difference between the nominate subspecies', the Pallid Grey-headed Lovebird, light grey head colour with a yellowish tinge and "warm" green body colour (right) and the subspecies', the Dusky Grey-headed Lovebird, pure grey head colour with a bluish tinge, just as the green body colour clearly shows a blue-green tone (to the left).

In the wild

Bangs also states that the Dusky Grey-headed Lovebird is in all probability limited to the south-western part of Madagascar. There is thus nothing in Bang's description that refers to the island of Rodriguez, so how the subspecies previously had the subspecies name "Rodriguez Grauköpfchen" in German is puzzling, and the assignment of the subspecies name must have happened without checking the source (in German, however, the subspecies was also previously called Südliches Grauköpfchen).

Late J. L. Albrecht-Møller states that the main distribution of the Dusky Grey-headed Lovebird is the dry part of southwestern Madagascar, to which it is also widespread to the coastal areas of eastern Africa towards Madagascar.

According to all available literature, the populations on all other islands apart from Madagascar are introduced birds of the nominate subspecies, i.e. the Pallid Grey-headed Lovebird.

​

Threats

BirdLife International does not keep separate records for the Dusky Grey-headed Lovebird, but exclusively for the Grey-headed Lovebird (Agapornis canus) all in one (both the Pallid Grey-headed Lovebird and the Dusky Grey-headed Lovebird). For further information, see article on the Pallid Grey-headed Lovebird.

Nature protection measures

See article on Pallid Grey-headed Lovebird.

Here is a group of some of my own Dusky Grey-headed Lovebirds, where you can see the more bluish tones in the plumage.

In human care

When you talk to certain European breeders who have specialized in breeding the Grey-headed Lovebird (Agapornis canus) for many years, they say that, for example, you can get chicks of the "blue type" among the clutch of a couple of the "yellow type", which has led some to believe that it was rather a mutation than a species with an associated subspecies.

However, according to science, this can easily be suitable when you do not have information about the origin of the birds. Presumably the colours are influenced by many genes, some dominant, others recessive, and there can be interference between many different genetic systems. Species can never be precisely defined because they mix, both in nature, where the populations are in contact with each other, so that "gene flow" occurs.

In population genetics, "gene flow", in English also known as gene migration, is the transfer of gene alleles from one population to another. The same applies to birds kept in human care. So, depending on whether the birds come from long-term breeding in human care, where crossbreeding have been made at one point or another, or from birds captured in the transition zone between the two different forms on Madagascar, you can easily experience those birds of "the "yellow type" carries a predisposition for "the blue type". You have to know the exact inheritance mechanism for your birds in human care, otherwise it is impossible to say anything more precise about this.

Unfortunately, the nominate subspecies and the subspecies have been "crossed" with each other over the years. I therefore hope that the above colour description and colour photos can contribute to the two forms being kept - and bred - physically separated in human care.

I personally attach great importance to keeping – and breeding - the two forms physically completely separate from each other and, through targeted breeding, in order to continue to ensure that the two individual types (nominate subspecies or subspecies) distinctive character is maintained.

Both in the wild and in human care, the subspecies the Dusky Grey-headed Lovebird has the same behaviour as the nominate subspecies, so here also refer to the article on the Pallid Grey-headed Lovebird.

Colour mutations

See article on Pallid Grey-headed Lovebird.

Feeding

See article on Pallid Grey-headed Lovebird.

Jorgen Petersen

Conceived/Updated: 28.11.2010 / 05.02.2024

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