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Interesting Creatures… The Barred Parakeet (Bolborhynchus lineola)
The barred parakeet (Bolborhynchus lineola), also known as lineolated parakeet, Catherine parakeet or ‘linnies’ for short, is a small parrot found disjunctly in highland forests from southern Mexico to Panama, in the Andes from western Venezuela to southern Peru and Bolivia, the Santa Marta Mountains in Colombia and the Venezuelan Coastal Range.
Its plumage is mostly green with multiple black and dark green stripes or bars, and it has a pale horn-coloured beak. The dark stripes vary in prominence between its two subspecies. Several colour mutants are available in aviculture.
The barred parakeet is about 16 cm (6.5 in) in length and has a weight of about 42 to 52 grams. It is mostly green and has black stripes (or bars) over its upper-parts, except on the top of the head. Its lower-parts are olive-green with very dark green stripes on its sides. The shoulders of its wings are black, there is some blue on the under-side of its wings, and its tail is dark green. The irises are dark brown and its beak is horn-coloured. Its legs are pink.
Juveniles have less-marked dark stripes, which darken with age. Males and females are generally similar in external appearance, but males may sometimes have more marked black stripes than the female. Usually, however, there is no discerning trait to differentiate genders and sexing must be done surgically or through blood tests. The two subspecies differ in the prominence of the dark stripes.
Their habitat is the forests and mountains up to 2000 metres above sea level or so. They spend some of their time on the ground, but sleep high in the trees.
The barred parakeet has a large population that is thought to be stable. There are usually two to four eggs in a clutch, which hatch after about 18–21 days of incubation. Chicks leave the nest at about five weeks after hatching. Lineolated parakeets are found in the wild in groups of six to 30, although bigger groups (up to 150 birds) are known. They eat fruit, dried and germinated seeds, and insect larvae.
Lineolated parakeets are known for their calm dispositions and peculiar postures. Unlike many birds, lineolateds typically rest in a near horizontal position with their heads almost in line with their tails. They are generally very calm birds and typically mumble quietly, and their calls are not high-pitched or piercing to the ear.
Barred parakeets are popular as pets because of their quiet and even-tempered disposition, and also because many colour mutations are available. Blue, cobalt, turquoise, mauve, lutino, creamino, cinnamon, golden, pied, silver and violet birds are bred in aviculture. Their average lifespan is about 10 years, but individual birds have been known to live up to 15 years. They are talented mimics of human speech.
Common colours are mainly greens (olive, dark), cobalt, turquoise, grey (also known as mauve), and yellow (or lutino). Dilutes are also available, which generally mark the presence of lighter colours and lighter stripes.
One of the most recognizable and entertaining characteristics of barred parakeets is that they enjoy bathing and being misted with water. Barred parakeets notably enjoy these mist baths; they will hang upside down and open their wings eagerly. Pet linnies are also known to have a unique trait of liking to burrow or hide in or under clothing for hours on end and will sometimes fall asleep in their found hiding places.
Do not feed your bird anything high in salt, sugar, and fat. Table salt, cooking spray, donuts, chocolate, etc. should never be fed. Common toxic foods include avocado and guacamole, caffeine, fruit pits and apple seeds (contain amounts of cyanide), persimmons, onions (prolonged exposure can lead to a blood condition called hemolytic anemia), mushrooms (fungi should be avoided at all costs; it causes digestion problems and can induce liver failure), dried/uncooked beans (contain hemaglutin, a poison toxic to birds), the stems/vines/leaves of tomatoes (the actual fruit is fine), and eggplant. [Source: Wikipedia]
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