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IN THE WILD

In the wild the lineolate parakeet, also known as the barred parakeet, is a small green bird with black markings (barring), about the size of a budgie or lovebird.  They live in small flocks of about thirty birds, often congregating with other flocks to roost in the treetops.  They originally range from Mexico through Central America to Central Peru.

IN CAPTIVITY

The lineolates have quite a strong following in Europe but they are only just starting to gain wide spread popularity in North America.  There are a few colour mutations available.  There is the green (including dark green & olive), blue (plus cobalt & mauve) and the Ino series which include the Lutino and the Creamino.  The other mutations (pied and cinnamon) are not yet readily available in North America.  Average life span for a lineolate is 15 years.

AS A PET

Even though the little lineolate parakeets is “new “to North America it is rapidly gaining a foothold in the pet market as they are little clowns that can be very sweet and loving and they can talk.  Sexing lineolates is very difficult, there is a slight colour difference in the black on the shoulders and tail.  This difference is not an accurate way to determine the sex of the bird.

CAGING

A minimum size cage for one lineolate is 17”*15”*24” high.  This gives the lineolate plenty of room to move around with toys and dishes in the cage.  The perches in the cage should be 5/8” diameter to spread his weight evenly on the perch. If the perch is too small it can cause sores on the bottom of the feet. Lineolates can be trained to use covered dishes, but most lineolates will only use open dishes.  Keep this in mind when looking at cages, the cages with covered outside dishes will not work for most lineolate.

DIET

Lineolates do best on a seed mix that is at least 1/2 “canary” seed (that’s the name of the grain) and contains a variety of other small grains, such as Feathered Friends Cockatiel Mix.  Quite a few “commercial” mixes use filler seeds such as red millet, which has no nutritional value.  The same “commercial” mixes use food colouring on some of the seeds as well as pellets. Lineolates colour vision is remarkable and they will usually ignore these coloured seeds.  Thus you end up paying for scatter on the bottom of the cage.  Sunflower seeds can be fed as a treat, too many in the diet can lead to liver problems.

Lineolates require gravel in their diet to grind up the seed in the gizzard. Lineolates also require vitamin supplements, Feathered Friends Aqua-Vite and mineral supplements, such as Complete Mineral Supplement, as a seed diet alone is deficient in both.

Lineolates will usually eat pellets.  Pellets, when included in a diet, are a great way to ensure that they are getting a balanced diet.  Lineolates enjoy having “treats” in their diet.  A treat is any food that is not a staple and it should be fed to them accordingly.  Spray millet is a favourite of all lineolates.  There are many good treat mixes, such as Feathered Friend Budgie/Cockatiel Treat Mix.  Most lineolates will also eat fruits and vegetables, such as broccoli, kale, spinach, carrot tops, dandelion, chickweed, apple, pear, melons, bananas, persimmons, etc.  Lettuce should be avoided, as it is mostly water.  Always feed fruits and vegetables in small amounts and if you hang them in the cage, the lineolate is more likely to try it.