Taming Lovebirds

I've had two (male and female) peach face lovebirds for about one and a half years. They are still not tamed, even though I haven't been really serious about it. But now I'm very determined to do it. I love birds. My dream bird is an umbrella cockatoo.

The female will eat from a long millet, but won't eat from my hand. I just put some banana in their bowl. They are quite skittish and had their wings clipped a month ago or so (they can still fly now).
By the way, I just came to the forums yesterday!!

Thanks in advance.

Welcome to the forum! I used to have lovebirds for quite a few years. The first two lovebirds I got were from my neighbor - a pair of peach face lovebirds. They were about 1.5 years old when I got them. I was only able to get one of them to be tame, to the point where it would run over to where I was sitting and want me to pick it up.

The other one never tamed, and continued to not let me hold it for more than a few seconds. It would also call to the one that was tame, whenever it was with me. Probably telling it "get away from her, come back to me!" haha

I then felt that the best way to have a really tame bird was to get a baby. So I got a 2 month old baby peach face lovebird and within a week, I had it tame. It would sit on the handlebars of my bike as I rode around the neighborhood. (I was young then, I probably would not do something like that now, fearing something would spook the bird and it would get hurt).

One thing I know from experience, is that the longer you go with not taming the bird, or only taming it to a point... then that relationship gets set as permanent. However, it really depends on the bird itself, how flexible it is to being further trained.

I didn't work on petting my baby lovebird, so it never allowed me to pet it. The next bird I tamed, I was sure to incorporate petting as part of the taming process... so that bird allowed all kinds of interaction - cuddling, being held, being petted.

Clipping their wings for training is a good move. Best wishes to you!

Thanks Cindy. I found what they love: Millet!
I put a strip of millet in their cage and walked away for like two seconds. After, I peeked over and the MALE, who is usually afraid, was eating the millet! The female joined in. Now, the millet is practically gone. Do you think they will get tamed? Also, should I keep their wings clipped? Because I think it's safer. Also, that's what lots of my research said.

Oh yes, they LOVE millet!! I think you should keep their wings clipped until you feel they are pretty tame. I always keep my bird's wings clipped until they are tame. It's easier to get them that way, when they are out and about.

I think it's very possible to get at least one of them tame. Try taking them to a separate room, one at a time, and spend about 15 minutes with it. I would take it to my bedroom, and hold it while speaking lovingly to it, then sit it on the bed, then put my finger in front of it and say "come here". I had regular training sessions like that and in a few days I had made great progress with the one bird.

Then when you can see that each is getting more tame in their individual taming sessions, you can start working with them together. I've had two lovebirds sitting on my hand at the same time and that's a cute sight.

OK, thanks so much for the help, LoryLover. I have one cage, and they're almost impossible to catch with even clipped wings. They ate a piece of tangerine today, they ate lots of fruits! What kinds of fruits do you recommend? I mean, which ones did your birds like? Thanks.

By the way, they are very skittish. I think the reason is because they are rescues from a swap meet where they were abused and not handfed, and the lady caught them by hand.

Lovebird said:

By the way, they are very skittish. I think the reason is because they are rescues from a swap meet where they were abused and not handfed, and the lady caught them by hand.

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Well, since you've had them now for 1-1/2 years, that's plenty of time for them to start to adapt to you and your place. But, seeing as they were abused, you'll need to be extra loving to them - exaggerate your happiness to see them. And in their case, being so skittish, you may have to use foods as a way to get them to come to you. Just start experimenting different ways of gaining their trust and go with what works with them.

As for fruits - probably anything other than avocado which is poisonous to birds. I was very young when I had my lovebirds and didn't even realize then that birds ate anything other than seeds, lol!! So I didn't feed them fruits, but I remember offering some peas and corn when I fixed that for dinner. Sometimes I have had to demonstrate how to eat a grape in front of my parrots, if they've never had one before, lol! Once they realize it's juicy inside the grape, they go after it with a gusto!

Every day for about 10-15 minutes I talk to them and put my hand on the cage. The female seems much more interested in me, the male is just afraid. However, when I turn my back, he is the one eating the millet. Lol.
The female is more laid back, she bit me once when I picked her up. It was only a slight nip, about a couple months ago when I wasn't as determined as I am to tame them now.
I tried out banana (which they don't seem to care for) and tangerine (they ate one small slice, took out the other one before it got yucky, they didn't eat the other one). Tomorrow or soon I will try some Korean Pear or something from the market or apples without seeds... For pomegranates, do I take out the actual SEEDS and leave that reddish, jewelish thing? Or can they eat the seeds in the fruit? I don't have grapes yet, I will try them soon. Vegetables aren't a problem, but can they eat them raw (washed, yes, but not cooked)? I haven't given them lots of veggies yet because of this. I try to give them lots of love and like I said, I'm really determined to get them tamed, because there will be some happy years after that.

BTW, the lady that sold them to us said that they were about half a year old, but their beaks weren't dark like baby ones are, so I don't really know. How long did your lovebirds live?

By the way, I'm on the forums very often (except on weekdays, then I only check around nighttime). All my web history is parrot-based. LOL.
Also, I heard that others pets can harm lovebirds. I'm NOT going to put them with my dog (three-and a half year old Maltipoo named Bella). Also, their names are Maxwell and Claire.

The lifespan of a lovebird is 15-20 years. Lots of things can happen though. For example, one day I was outside sitting on my patio with one of my lovebirds on my shoulder. A neighborhood cat suddenly jumped into my patio and grabbed my bird. I never saw it again. So, yep you are right... cats, dogs --- not so good to be around small birds.

I went to the internet and found this site that contains lots of good info about lovebirds, their care and diet:
Lovebirds - Hand fed lovebirds vs non hand fed lovebirds

There are metal skewers to hang fruit on that you may want to get and slide a portion of apple - don't worry about taking seeds out. The lovebirds know what type of seeds they like and don't like.

If the female is more laid back, I'd try taming her first. When she bites, just say gently, but firmly "no biting". When Sweet Pea was 3 months old, she learned to bite, and then she started hearing the "no biting" instruction quite frequently. She learned though.

I talk to my lory all day long (when I'm home). In the evenings, from about 8pm to bedtime, she is out of her cage, hanging out with my husband and I. She loves to play with toys too, either on the floor or up on the chair with us.

Try to establish routines with your birds that they will enjoy and that will promote a great relationship between you and your birds.

I'm mainly on the parrot forum in the evenings/weekends. I live at the computer, lol! At work though, I'm pretty busy so no time for forums unless I take a bit of time on my lunchbreak.

OK. Thanks for the link. It's so helpful. Thanks for the advice. Is that your lory your avatar? It's beautiful.

You're so welcome, hope I could help at least a little bit

Yep, that's my little birdie - my lory - got her over 16 years ago when she was a 7 week old baby. Finished hand feeding her and she's been a dream bird for us.






Here she is, trying to sleep on my leg as I'm watching tv. The camera flash startled her though.



Her favorite toy is a hacky sack - she's got four of them and will play toss and fetch, just like a dog... only she'll yell "go get it" when she tosses it to you, lol. She can pick them up with her beak and toss them quite a ways.

She's ADORABLE! Her feathers are beautiful. The red is so pretty! I'll take some pictures of my lovebirds maybe tomorrow or the day after, it's to dark here right now to take pictures. Can she talk? By the way, the birds are getting more used to me now. They aren't as frightened when I walk over, talk to them, or put my hand on their cage. Progress! What's your bird's name? Again, she's beautiful! My bird's names are Maxwell (male)and Claire (female).

I would love to see some pictures of Maxwell and Claire! I used to have a pair of lovebirds I named Jack and Jill! (heehee) So happy to hear of your progress so far with your little birdies!

I love the coloring of my lory too. Right now she's preening my arm and occasionally giving my arm kisses. Yes she talks up a storm, and does imitations of sneezing, coughing, blowing the nose, phone ringing, laughing and many more. She hums a tune just like a person and whistles little songs. :54:

We call her several names - Sweet Pea, Pea, Sweet Baby Pea, Baby

She's big on saying "Bless You!" Even if we sneeze in the middle of the night, we'll hear a "Bless You!" shouted across the house, from our little Pea, lol

I have two lovebirds also, I got both of them at around 2 months old. One of them is a 1.5 years old the other is 6 months old.

I worked with the older bird more than the younger one. I was hoping the younger one would tame easier with the older bird as a role model but it hasn't really worked out that way.

With the older bird, she steps up (or really 'leaps on') any chance she gets. She gives me kisses, tries to preen me, plays with my hair, and dives in my shirt. She however does not like to be pet with hands (although sometimes I can kiss the top of her head and her back) and she also does not like to be held. She trusts me though which is nice. She's kind of lazy so sometimes if she wants to go somewhere she'll squack at me to go get her. I offer my hand and then take her to where she wanted to go and she'll leap off. I'm like an elevator.

The younger bird is comfortable stepping up on me and is starting to trust me. For example, sometimes my birds end up in positions when they are scared and make a kind of scared squawk/chirp. If birds are not tame and you try to help them when they are in this position they usually get more scared and thrash around. It's a sweet moment when your bird pauses when its scared because it hears you coming and then it searches you out because it knows you're there to help. The young bird cannot give kisses though because he chomps down hard on anything fingers/lips whatever. Doesn't like to be held or pet.

The way I tamed my older bird was through trying to obtain trust first. I never grabbed the bird unless totally necessary. I tried to get her to associate me=food. Anytime I was near, she got her favorite foods. For a long time that was millet, but thats not very good for lovebirds so I quickly introduced broccoli, sprouts, wheatgrass, cauliflower, romansceu, etc. (My lovebirds don't really like fruit, you should try broccoli thats their number one treat.) Anytime I came home she got treats. For a month or so she wouldn't eat if I was near so I just inched my way closer and closer until I was allowed to be nearby while she ate. Then I would try to offer food with my hand (not in the palm of my hand, instead i extended the food out to them by holding it with my fingers). Eventually they got comfortable with that so then I used treats as incentive to guide them onto my finger. Sometimes they would just place a single toe on my finger so that they could stretch for the treat. If that happened they got treated. Any time they touched me at all they got treated. Eventually you have birds feasting while perching on your finger.

Eventually you are going to want to be able to do this without food. Once they can do all this with food you should start trying to exchange food rewards with verbal rewards. Any time you would normally treat, you should also coo at them and make sweet exciting noises (they should perk up and maybe sing back). Eventually they will like to hang out with you so you can have a fun exciting sound-off with you. The lovebirds will win every time.

Also, lookout for a super happy content noise they make. A slight clicking. Its equivalent to a cat's purring. When you hear that noise your doing something right. Try to click back to them and just be sweet with them.

As far as any tricks go, I'm clueless. But I do know how to help your bird be more content, trusting, and loving. Good luck, it takes a long time.