Hubli people take fancy to rear love birds

HUBLI: Love birds seem be dethroning canines as the pet of people here, and the spurt in demand for the former stands testimony for the same.
On an average, 250 pairs of love birds of different varieties are being sold in a month. There are three shops in Ganeshpet here, which exclusively sell the cute little birds.
Of late, people of the city have taken fancy to rear love birds."Parents gift their children a pair of birds, especially on their birthdays, while the lovers do so to surprise their beloved ones," said J D Chandru, who sells at least 75 pairs of birds in a month.
According to Chandru, people don't even mind to pay a few thousands for a pair of colourful birds, which come in three verities __ African love birds (aka Pinch Face birds) which costs 1,500 a pair; King Bujjery (aka Australian love birds) costing Rs 500 a pair; and ordinary love birds costing Rs 300 a pair.
Another bird seller S S Makandar said they import love birds from Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore. "Apart from Hubli-Dharwad, we get customers from Belgaum, Bagalkot, Gadag and other places too," he added.
Bird lover Rakesh Hebballi, who frequents shops looking for new varieties of the winged pets, said he already has four pairs of them. "I want to add new ones that arrive in market," he said.