A small parrot of southwestern Africa, with a mainly green body and a rosy face and throat.
The rump is bright blue. Young birds have paler faces and a dark area on the upper bill.
Field work at three Namibian sites from January to August 2004 found rosy-faced lovebirds feeding on at least 19 plant species. Their food included seeds, fresh and dry leaves, dry leaf stems, and fruits, as well as cattle and horse dung and soil. The most preferred food was the seed of Anthephora schinzii, a grass.
Ground-level flock feeding was common, and mean flock size was 7.3 birds. Open grassland with scattered shrubs up to 10 m tall accounted for 53% of feeding observations. The lovebirds were crepuscular and sometimes fed in flocks with doves, pigeons, and weavers. The study documented feeding behavior, habitat use, and preferred foods across the three sites over several months.
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species · Least Concern (LC) · Global
The 2018 IUCN global assessment listed the species as Least Concern (LC), while estimating a decreasing population trend and identifying unsustainable exploitation as a suspected cause.