Black-collared Lovebirds aka Swindern's Lovebirds
If you are starting out with lovebirds, I would also recommend visiting the following webpages:
The Black-collared Lovebird (Agapornis swinderniana) was discovered by Heinrich Kuhl in 1820 and named after Professor Theodore van Swinderen of Groningen University.
The Black-collared Lovebird is relatively unknown in Europe, America and other countries. It is being described as shy bird that hides high in the forest canopy.
Breeders have tried to integrate this bird into a breeding program, but the very specific diet of these lovebirds made successes rare. Without certain native (fresh) fig seed or fig flesh as a basis of their daily diet, these lovebirds died within days. Many believe that this bird cannot be adapted to life in captivity.
The images of the black-collared lovebirds are reproductions of earlie photos of stuffed specimens or paintings. No live photos have been available on the Internet to my knowledge.
Description:
Length: 13 cm (5 ins) ... The sexes are similarly marked: mainly green with a characteristic half collar at the nape. The chest is orange-yellow, merging into yellow on the bell. The rump and tail have blue and red markings. The beak, feet and legs are gray, the iris yellow. Immatures: As adult, but black band to nape absent or very faint; bill pale grey with blackish base; iris brown.
Two subspecies or races are currently recognized:
- Agapornis swindernianus zenkeri(Reichenow 1895 ) aka Cameroon (s) Black-collared lovebird
- Agapornis swindernianus emini (Neumann, 1908) aka Ituri Black-collared Lovebird or Emin's Lovebird
Species: Scientific: Agapornis swindernianus swindernianus aka Agapornis swinderniana swinderniana... English: Black-collared Lovebird, Swindern's Lovebird ... Dutch: Zwartkraagagapornis, Groenkopagapornis ... German: Grünköpfchen, Von Swinderns Unzertrennlicher ... French: Inséparable de Van Swindern 
Sub-Species: swinderniana, zenkeri, emini Distribution: Liberia and Southern Ghana
Related Websites: Lexicon of Parrots ... African Lovebird Society
Sub-species:
Cameroon Black-collared Lovebirds:
Species: Scientific: Agapornis swindernianus zenkeri aka Agapornis swinderniana zenkeri / Agapornis swinderniana emini ... English: Cameroon Black-collared Lovebird ... Dutch: Zenkers Zwartkraagagapornis ... German: Zenkers Grünkopfchen ... French: Inséparable à collet noire de Zenker
Distribution: Cameroon and Gabon, East / Western Regions of Central African Republic, Congo
Related Websites: Lexicon of Parrots (please scroll down to no. 2)
Emin Black-collared Lovebirds:
Species: Scientific: Agapornis swindernianus emini aka Agapornis swinderniana emini ... English: Emin Black-collared Lovebird ... Dutch: Emin Zwartkraagagapornis ... German: Emin Grünköpfchen ... French: Inséparable de Emin
Distribution: Central Congo, Uganda
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