What type of lovebird is this.

[peachfaceaxim]

Is this a black cheek lovebird or a black masked lovebird. I'm so confused. I found this bird roaming around near my English Budgie aviary. I caught it and after looking for its owner without any luck I decided to keep it. Its been over 2 months since I found it but I don't know what type it is.

http://i1125.photobucket.com/albums/l595/allaboutbirds101/lovebird.jpg

[lovie_couple]

It's a Fischer lovebird, perhaps black cheeked. I'm not familiar with these kind, so perhaps another person could confirm this.

[personatus]

It's a masked lovebird. Agapornis personatus.

[Mummieeva]

Black masked. My first lovebird was a black masked.

[peachfaceaxim]

Thank you all for your replies. I have a black masked too but this one has red in its head and my black masked lovebird does not. I have never seen a black masked with red feathers in the head that's why I was confused.

[personatus]

The feathers in the head of a green masked are coloured with orange/red psittacin (coloured pigment) then covered with black eumelanin. Sometimes, when the eumelanin is not so strong you see alot of the psittacin. It's normal :)

A blue masked has no psittacin, so you only see the black in the mask, giving a much deeper, more intense black colour.

A lutino masked has no eumelanin, so you only see the psittacin (orange mask)

[peachfaceaxim]

Thank you

I read in an article that masked and fisher hybrids tend to have red in the head. A full blooded masked is jet black. Is this TRUE!!!!???

[Mummieeva]

It would have alot more red if it was a hybrid. My masked looked just like yours and she was a full masked.