Species name: Agapornis personata nigrigens
Appearance:   The wild-type black-cheecked lovebirds have a green body with lighter green underparts. The forehead and front of the crown are d

                      dark brown. The nape and black of the crown are light green. Lores, throat, and cheeks are brownblack. The bib is a pale orange-red.

                      They have a green tail, naked white eye ring, red beak, and grayish brown legs.
Origin:            Zambia River valleys, southhwest of the area where Nyasa lovebirds are found. They inhabit a very small range in the lowlands, r

                      river valley,  and woodlads.
Sexual dimorphism:     No obvious visual differences between the sexes.
Breeding:                    Build elaborate nests; incubation is for 24 days; young fledge in 40 days.
Black-cheecked lovebirds are endangered in the wild. Unfortunately, because of their similarity in appearance to the balck-masked lovebird, many uninformed breeders have bred them with masked lovebirds, creating hybrids and reducing the availability of pure lines in aviculture. Due to their low availability, hybridization should be vigorously avoided. The head and mask show distinct differences. A pure black-cheecked lovebird does not have black-brown on the crown.
Black-cheecked lovebirds are not commonly available as pets, alhough they are occasionally seen. Their behavior is similiar to the other eye-ring species. Hand-raised black-cheecked lovebirds will make the best pets.

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