The image on the cover of Designing Mobile Interfaces is a lovebird.
The name “lovebird” refers generally to any of nine species of the genus Agapornis (from the Greek agape, meaning “love,” and ornis, meaning “bird”). More commonly, they’re known as small parrots. They’re named for their monogamous pair bonding and their tendency to spend long periods of time sitting with their partners. When kept singly as pets, lovebirds will often bond with their human owners. Despite their small size, these affectionate birds are just as intelligent and colorful as their larger parrot cousins, although they’re not considered to be as great of talkers, as some never learn to “speak,” or mimic humans.
Eight of the nine species of lovebird are native to continental Africa, while the ninth species is native to Madagascar. They live in small flocks, and most eat grass, vegetables, seeds, and fruit, although the black-winged lovebird eats insects and figs, and the black- collared lovebird eats only figs native to its area, which makes it difficult to keep in captivity. Lovebirds have stocky builds and are usually between five and six inches long. They have short, blunt tails and long, sharp beaks. Most lovebirds have green plumage on their lower bodies; the coloring of their upper bodies depends on the species. They usually live between 10 and 15 years.
Lovebirds are popular as pets, due in part to their capacity for affection. If they bond with their human owner early on, they can be trained to do tricks and show great loyalty, so much so that they can become aggressive to other birds or humans. When kept paired in captivity, it’s important that the members of the pair get along with each other. Pairs that are truly bonded can be seen feeding and grooming each other, while mismatched pairs do not display such affection.
The cover image is from Johnson’s Natural History. The cover font is Adobe ITC Garamond. The text font is Adobe Minion Pro, and the heading and note font is Adobe Myriad Pro Condensed.