Bought myself a birthday present……

Well, she will certainly have a better place to live now! Lovebirds are so pretty!

Awwwww…. Hurray for rescuing her! Poor little thing! What a lovely present!

Hehehe… lovebirds can be little devils (I owned a pair… I know!). Do you know if she is tame? Can you put your hand in her cage and have her not try to bite you to death? They will draw blood and can give a macaw a run for their money. If she was handled and hand reared, she should be fine. Mine were not and were absolute terrors (though I loved them!). My mom didn’t know any better and picked something ‘pretty’ rather than practical, like the lovely trained sun conure my dad and I liked, not the non-hand reared lovebirds. *shakes head*

Lovebirds are happiest as a true pair (ie. a male & a female), and if you give her a mirror, she’s spend much of her attention with the mirror, but by herself, she can be just fine (and will probably pay you more attention :P), but definitely give her some stuff to keep her beak and claws in shape and stuff to play/do. Lovebirds are supposed to love fruits and a few veggies, but don’t be surprised if she won’t eat any. My pair wouldn’t touch anything I gave except for seed, so I had to give them vitamins to make sure they got what they needed. Since you already have birds, you already are aware of the noise, though a lovebird can be noisier than cockatiels and the like. You’ll have to post a picture of her when you can! 🙂

A lovebird can tolerate chilly temps, but only if they can get someplace warm to hunker down when they feel the need, but it is at their discretion (there are flocks in NYC from escapees that live year round!), but with no place to move to escape from the chilly breeze like that, she definitely could have gotten sick or died! I’d certainly not just plop a lovebird out in a cage out in a cold wind like that. Stupid ‘owners’. Kudos on the rescue!

Laurie I would wait before to buy another bird. The fact that she was exposed to strong wind is not good…I would keep an eye on her for a few weeks…Sorry but she could get sick. If the wind was a little cool… 🙁
But I hope she turns out ok! She will have a good home with you for sure! 🙂
Love birds do enjoy anothers company… and if you can put safe toys in the cage to make sure it keeps her busy that would be great! Congrats!

Another rescue! Lovebirds are pretty, but I’ve never had one, so I know diddly squat about taking care of one. I find the mirror thing hilarious!

Happy birthday, and congrats on the present! It’s good that you’re giving her a better home than she had. Some people are so thoughtless.

Lovebirds don’t need to be in pairs! That’s a myth and people keep it alive because it’s a romantic thought– that they need a mate to be happy. Let me tell you about the number of lovebirds injured or killed by their ‘mates’..!! It’s also totally false that you need to have parrots by themselves to tame them. It doesn’t even make it ‘easier’ in most cases!

Ah, rescue birds. Usually cheap to bring home.. then the real money starts! My rescues have costs me thousands and thousands over the years XD

First, I cannot recommend this site highly enough. This lady knows her stuff: http://rationalparrot.com/

I’ve worked with birds all of my life, and I will try my best to impart the best, most up to date info I have. That said, never take my advice over that of an avian veterinarian!
The first thing you should do is find an avian vet in your area. Avian vets are not the same as normal vets– they actually had to do special schooling because bird biology is much different than mammalian biology. That said, if you can’t find an “Avian” specific vet, you can still find a good vet. Call around and see which vets see birds. Of those, ask and see which of those vets see birds regularly… we’re talking like at least once a week here if possible. Experience can be just as good as that little certification– if they have a lot of experience.

I’d get in with your vet. Since the poor lovebird was outside, I’d ask the vet to do a fecal swab and a full blood panel. Warning: blood panels usually run anywhere from $130-$250 just for the panel. Why is it important?
Well, she was outside for one thing. Unfortunately this means she may have been exposed to wild birds, and that can mean disease. Also if she’s been fighting the cold… and for a lovebird, anything below 40 for long periods can be pretty cold, especially with the wind, her immune system might be compromised. Which means any little thing can start catching hold in her system, like an URI.
Also, lovebirds are well known for harboring Psittacosis (parrot fever– YES you can get this from a bird in some cases!), Chlamydiosis (chlamydia– slightly different from the human version, but it’s true you can catch it from a pet bird) and the worst for the bird.. Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease (PBFD). Lovebirds are more frequent carriers of this disease than other parrots, and while people cannot catch it, if the bird succumbs to symptoms or is simply a carrier to give it to other birds, you need to know because it is often a fatal disease and can cause great misery for the bird.
A blood panel will help determine the health of your lovebird.
Even if she does not actively have any of these diseases, she can be a ‘carrier’ and pass it to other birds (like some people can be carriers for Strep Throat, but never actually get it.. they ‘shed’ the virus and other people catch it). So even if she is okay, you’ll want to know for sure before having her around any other birds.

Additionally, since the owners of the poor thing obviously were not concerned with her well being, I sincerely doubt that they fed her properly, and she may well have vitamin deficiency and/or other problems that a blood panel will help determine.

Here is a link on parrot diet. It is too complex for me to write out in a post here. It’s a lot of work! I spend many many hours a week just on my bird’s diet. http://rationalparrot.com/diet.html

That should be enough to get you started! I think the most important thing will be to get her to a knowledgeable vet. I’ve been to many vets over the years and let me tell you, the difference between one that is knowledgeable in parrots and one that is just seeing my bird because they want the extra $$ is HUGE, and truly can make a difference between a healthy bird and an unhealthy one. You should have a bunch where you live Laurie!