Adult lovebird feeding another adult. Submitted by Tore Mowatt-Larssen

Lovebirds with Budgie (parakeet). Submitted by Tore Mowatt-Larssen

These two photos by Keith Pekkala show Rosy-faced Lovebirds apparently consuming the small seeds of the Creosote plant. Creosote is the most numerous native plant in Arizona and dominates the lowland Sonoran desert. The ability to consume and thrive on a diet of creosote seeds would mean that the lovebirds have the potential to weather extended drought periods by moving from urban areas with human-supplied food to native desert areas with creosote. Whether this would ever happen remains a research question.

Tore Wowatt-Larson

Tore Wowatt-Larson