Agapornis canus
Silhouette: Hugo Gruson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%
The gray-headed lovebird or Madagascar lovebird (Agapornis canus) is a small species of parrot of the lovebird genus. It is a mainly green parrot. The species is sexually dimorphic and only the adult male has grey on its upper body. They are native on the island of Madagascar and are the only lovebird species which are not native on the African continent. They are the smallest of the lovebird species. It is rarely seen in aviculture and it is difficult to breed in captivity.
In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description and an illustration of the grey-headed lovebird in his Ornithologie based on a specimen collected in Madagascar. He used the French name La petite perruche de Madagasgar and the Latin Psittacula Madagascariensis. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. The lovebird was subsequently described by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in 1779 and the English ornithologist John Latham in 1781, but neither author included a binomial name. When in 1788 the German naturalist Johann Friedrich...
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Berenty Reserve | 🇲🇬 Madagascar | |
| 2 | Ankarana National Park | 🇲🇬 Madagascar | |
| 3 | Ankarafantsika National Park | 🇲🇬 Madagascar | |
| 4 | Mantadia National Park | 🇲🇬 Madagascar |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Antananarivo | 🇲🇬 Madagascar |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zürich Zoo | 🇨🇭 Switzerland | |
| 2 | Bronx Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Paphos Zoo | 🇨🇾 Cyprus |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Grey-headed Lovebird sighting in Ankarana National Park on a given day, based on 22 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 12th most-seen of the 40 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Grey-headed Lovebird sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 4
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Grey-headed Lovebird sightings, Ankarana National Park ranks 2nd at about 30%. The best odds are in Berenty Reserve (Madagascar, about 50%).
Same family: Psittacidae
The closest relatives of the Grey-headed Lovebird that you can see in Ankarana National Park (family Psittacidae, New World and African Parrots) are Greater Vasa Parrot (about 20%) and Lesser Vasa-Parrot (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Grey-headed Lovebird is recorded against all the birds logged in Ankarana National Park (22 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
