Lovebirds

I chose the Blue, Peach Faced Lovebird (Agapornis roseicollis) to be the second bird I’d Taxidermy. It was a tough decision between him and the Opaline Red Rump (Psephotus haematonotus). 

Lovebirds are from Africa. They are native to the forests and savannas of Sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar. Fossils of ancient Lovebird species have been unearthed in South Africa, dating to as far back as 1.9 million years ago.

Peach Faced Lovebirds are the most widely kept of the Lovebirds and are bred in large numbers not surprisingly, several mutations have become established including Pastel blue, yellow, Lutino and Pied. The normal cock and hen are similar in color, except that the hen may be a bit paler. The body is olive-green, lighter on the belly. The head, throat and breasts are a bright peach pink. The flight feathers are black and there are red, blue, and black markings in the green tail feathers.

It took me hours to Taxidermy the Lovebird. I went along slowly and carefully. I did end up having to sew one hole up near his wing that happened during the skinning process. (You only need to sew any holes that are bigger than the size of a pea) The whole process took me two days. The first day I skinned the bird (it took a couple of hours) and put him in the freezer until the next day when I had time to finish mounting him on his body form (it took another couple of hours). I will be honest that I had a bad experience this time. The bird shit on my hand while I was skinning him and from there on out I just had the ‘gross me outs’. I filmed the first 20 minutes of the process. (I’ll post an excerpt below) The finished bird came out awful! I was so sad  and frustrated with my failed second attempt that I spent the next whole day questioning whether or not Taxidermy was for me. I got super bummed out and decided to donate the rest of Frank’s birds to my Taxidermy instructor, Allis.

My husband James insisted I was over reacting and I just needed practice. He knew how much time and effort I’d spent the last month on the subject and how excited I was when I’d talk about anything Taxidermy. He told me I was giving up way too easy. I didn’t want to listen at the time and told him Taxidermy just wasn’t for me and I’d made a mistake. It hadn’t been a waste in my eyes. I believe anything you experience and learn through life in some way makes us who we are.

Still, I was gutted.