Lineolated Parakeet The Lineolated Parakeet (Bolborhynchus Lineola), is a small, compact parrot that hails from South America. It is NOT a grassparakeet, though many people that love the Neophemas also enjoy these birds. It has the advantage of having a parrot-like personality in a small package. They are not destructive, have a quiet voice, and when hand-fed make delightful pets and good talkers. Lineolateds are hardy birds. Not overly active, they do not require a big aviary or flight cage. Pairs are happiest housed in a secluded, location. These parrots are not big flyers; they prefer climbing to their bowls, or running across the cage bottom. Even when chased with a net, they like to just "drop off" the perch and cling to the wire. When perched or resting, Lineolateds adopt a funny posture: they either sit in a horizontal position, or rest with their tails pointing up, and their heads leaning down. Though the Lineolated can produce several clutches a year, they are not the most reliable breeders. They may lay 3-5 eggs, and raise 2-3 chicks successfully, and then just raise one baby the clutch thereafter. Foster parents (Bourke parakeets) and handfeeding will greatly help increase production. They require a small, parakeet nestbox, (6" by 6" by 8" tall), as babies tend to crawl away and chill. The bottom of the box should be lined with two inches of pine shavings with a handful of cocofibers added to the top. The fibers will be used to build a round, cocoon-type nest within the box. Chicks hatch at 21 days. Their feet are slow to develop; therefore they are banded at about 2 weeks old with lovebird-size bands. They fledge around six to seven weeks. When handfed, these bird have delightfully sweet personalities and the ability to talk. Usually, aviculturists breed a species and then diversify to the color mutations. However, in the case of the Lineolated, mutations imported from Europe led to a greater demand and interest in the "plain green" Lineolated. Once some of the blues and lutinos were handfed, it was soon realized what a great potential the inexpensive "normal" birds had to make wonderful pets. The Lutino Lineolated is a sex-linked mutation. Most lutinos are large, robust birds, so this is not a weak mutation. There are three color variations of the Blue mutation. The genetics are comparable to the lovebird, which includes dark factors. There is a beautiful aqua blue (pictured here), the popular cobalt and the mauve. There are three color forms of the green. Green (as in the wild), dark-greens (pictured here) and the olive. Welcome!  |  About Us  |  Grass Parakeets  |  Prices  |  Contact Us Scarlet Chested  |  Turquoisine  |  Elegant  |  Bourke  |  Lineolated  |  Books  |  Poster  |  Links Copyright © 2000 Visual Wings, Inc. The contents of this web page, including all text and photographs are copyrighted material. No part of this page may be reproduced, in whole or part, without the express permission of the author. Last updated: 5/6/00