¹The next love birds are my favorite species in the whole world (among other favs)

The Bateleur Eagle
Ndebele/Nguni: iNgqungqulu
Shona: Chapungu
Afrikaans: Berghaan

#valentinesday2021
#HappyValentinesDay #lovebirds #conservation #BirdTwitter

² Bateleurs are also monogamous and pair for life. Unlike the Lilian's Lovebirds, they are not affectionate at all really. They just perch a reasonable distance from each other &look like the couple that gossips about other lovey dovey couples in the savanna

³The @IUCNRedList lists them as Endangered. These are long lived species, taking long to mature, pair & mate. Bcoz raising young is a tough job, only one chick is raised, both parents stay to raise it together in order for success to be achieved & their genes passed on.

⁴ The Bateleur's love is a functional traditional kind of love, no PDA but max loyalty & dependability
Did you know: They are one of the few raptor species with sexual dimorphism, you can tell them apart while perched and also while in flight
&

⁵ Can you tell them apart here?

⁶ these are stunning birds known for other things other than love, things like war. All the traditional knowledge I know on then draws inspo from their warrior nature, even my country's defense force has it for an emblem

⁷Bateleur babies are proof that these stop nonsense tough birds have a soft loving side. I mean, they are not the cutest, takes a while to be.
& from the photos above, I've had a friendship with one, he was very possessive, I'd say that about their love, it's possessive lol

I still go crazy everytime I see one in Zim, they have been listed as a special species since the 80s when a decline was noted. No one has really studied them & we don't know why they are declining enough to legally protect them.
The best place to see them is @KrugerNational