The history of my lovebird Apache

I’m not the first owner of Apache. In fact her name wasn’t even Apache. It’s her history that explains her behavior. The more I learn about lovebirds, the more I understand her. In this post I will go over my experiences.

How I got my lovebird

Apache used to belong to an elderly couple who, when the husband passed away, sold her to my brother.

My brother wanted a lovebird, however he realized that he had too much going on in his life to properly look after her so he ask me if I wanted her, I said yes. So in the end of February of 2019 I got this little lovebird. 

Gender surprise

When I first got this cute little lovebird, I renamed her Apache. I didn’t like the old name Wally. At that time I thought that she was male. However, come December 12 she told me she was actually a female by laying an egg. I’ll be honest, I was not expecting to find an egg on the bottom of her cage that morning. 

Her behavior in the first few weeks

The first few weeks that she was with me, Apache was restless, aggressive and really loud. I talked to her on a daily basis as much as I could and slowly she started to calm down. She still didn’t like hands around her though as my boyfriend can tell you as she bit through his nail once. 

Her cage setup

The cage she came in was a Flamingo Birdcage Numfor. The cage was 59cm (23.2 inches) high, 44cm (17.3 inches) wide and 38cm (14.9 inches) deep. To me this was too small for her. So I bought another cage that was bigger and now she has two which she can hop in between. 

Of course two cages is not an ideal setup, however looking for the correct one took some time. Mostly because I needed to do research on what she needed. I found one that would be perfect for her, but even the manufacturer didn't have any of them available. I had to wait until her new cage was available again (luckily I reserved one directly from the supplier). At last in October 2020 I finally got it. You can read more about in "A new Montana Madeira II bird cage for my lovebird".

Guessing my bird's age

Because of Apache’s history I don’t know exactly how old she is, though there are a few signs that help me guess her approximate age.

First off; when my brother got her, her beak no longer had any blackness to it (an indication of a young bird). However, Apache’s species does not have this from what I can find. So not much help there.

Second off; we thought her to be a male bird. When she laid an egg in December 2019 this was likely her first time. Lovebirds are sexually mature between 10 to 12 months meaning, there is a chance that she could be between 10 and 12 months. My brother gave her to me at the end of February so she could be 1 year old by December. Of course this is just a guess.

I don’t think Apache comes from a breeder as she isn’t ringed. I checked if I had to have her ringed, but that they said it wasn't required for her breed. So there is also no ring to check her age.

Free to fly

Apache's wings are not clipped so she can fly around the living room when she’s out of her cage.