Scarlett and Beau are Peach-faced Lovebirds, though not of the normal color variety. Scarlett is a lutino, with a yellow body, red face, white primaries, white tail marked with yellow and red, and red eyes. Beau is a whitefaced blue, with a dark bluish green back, lighter greenish blue front, white face, peach crown, and cobalt back. We think that they are absolutely beautifiul! We feed them a variety of natural cereals with some commercial seed mix and a variety of mixed vegetables and diced fruits. Scarlett's first mate, Rhedd, died in 1995, and she went through a very trying period of grieving. When we decided to find her a new mate and/or companion, we contacted Janice Martin, a breeder in Belleville, Ohio, whom we then visited. So many beautiful color varieties to choose from! But this pretty little whitefaced blue kept catching our eye, so we brought him home with us. We kept them in separate cages for several weeks, and finally introduced them. Scarlett attacked him immediately, so it was back to separate cages again. When we tried again, she tolerated him -- just barely. She still would not allow him near any of her toys, so we had to replace all the toys in their cage. After a while, they started sitting together, preening, and acting more than friendly.

Scarlett's first clutch this spring was quite a surprise. Of the four viable chicks, two were the normal peach-faced green that we expected, but two of them were yellow and developed sky blue rumps and tails. Fully fledged, they are unusual and beautiful, with yellow bodies that have a slightly olive cast, pale pearly grey primaries, reddish faces, sky blue rumps and tails, tail feathers marked in red and olive, and dark eyes. After sending photos to a breeder in California, we were informed that we have Australian cinnamons! The most logical explanation is that Beau has Australian cinnamon somewhere in his background. We know that Scarlett is straight lutino for at least two generations back. A second clutch produced two viable chicks, both normal colored. Scarlett has tried to start a third clutch, but we decided enough is enough, and for her sake removed the nestbox. She is a real egg machine, but we don't want to endanger her health by allowing her to wear herself out laying.

PEACH-FACED LOVEBIRD. Agapornis roseicollis roseicollis Vieillot. From southwestern Africa -- Zambia, Angola, and Botswana. Length: about 15cm (6"). General plumage green; forehead and behind eyes red; lores, cheeks, throat and upper breast rose-pink; rump bright blue; tail green, lateral feathers marked with orange and barred with black; bills greenish horn colored; iris dark brown; legs grey. Sexes similar. Immatures: base of upper mandible is dark and the pink is mure subdued. Many color varieties due to natural mutation and selective breeding. These include lutino, creamino, pied, "blue", cobalt, mauve, and cinnamon, among others. Call shrill, repeated many times in succession. Feeds primarily on seeds and berries.