We are owned by a Linnie. His name is Dallas and he is a one year old, DNA sexed male of normal green coloration. He was hand raised and weaned when we purchased him from a breeder in Dallas, Georgia.

Dallas is a wonderful bird. He talks, and laughs and is a very quiet, gentle little soul. He is best friends with our DNA sexed female, Green-cheek conure. They sit together on their play gym and our green-cheek, Rio preens his head. He never preens her, although, she does nestle in close to him, and request a good preening. If she gets too friendly with him, he will protest and make himself look taller! Poor Rio, she just wants a good little head preening, but I would imagine, in the wild, Linnies are not as touchy, feelie as conures!

I would say his personality is a little stand offish, more so than our boisterous, outgoing Rio anyway. He has a funny, little low crouched stance when sitting on a perch and his droppings tend to be a little on the lose side compared with other companion birds, but nothing like a Lory or a Mynah.

Dallas is a beautiful little bird, with glossy, Kelly green body and wings with black bars on them. His feathers just glisten in the sunlight.

I've had many small pet birds in my life. I've had Cockatiels, Budgies, and Lovebirds. I always say, "if I could only have one small bird as a pet, I'd want it to be a Linnie!" They are such sweet, little birds, they are quiet and gentle, but their voice is very clear and easily understood.

I am surprised that more Linnie are not seen in aviculture. They are a wonderful little secret!

"She was not quite what you would call refined.
She was not quite what you would call unrefined.
She was the kind of person who keeps a parrot."
~Mark Twain~

Thanks for the introduction to linneolated parakeets. :-) How big are they? Compared to, for example, your green-cheek?

Nate Waddoups
Redmond WA USA

Dallas is probably half the length of Rio, our little green cheek girl, but this is because he does not have the long tail feathers of other "parakeet" type birds, which I really don't understand why Linnies are classified as parakeets. His tail feathers are more parrot like in appearance. His body type is more stocky and round instead of long and thin.:) Dallas weighs 52g. Rio, the green cheek weighs in at 65g.

I had never heard of or seen a linnie until we went to purchase our Pacific Parrotlet, Emme. The breeder also had linnie babies, but they were not yet weaned, so we left with our parrotlet, but kept thinking about those beautiful little linnie babies we had seen. His first word was "hi", and he was still being hand fed by the breeder. So a couple of weeks later, we went back again and brought Dallas home. His voice is very sweet and soft, almost like a small child.

At the time we purchased Dallas, the normal green color linnies were all the breeder had. Now she has very pale yellows, beautiful blues and very soft lavender colored linnies. They are just lovely! I believe if Linnies were more common, their popularity would be greater than budgies or cockatiels.

~Kathy~
"She was not quite what you would call refined.
She was not quite what you would call unrefined.
She was the kind of person who keeps a parrot."
~Mark Twain~

I also have a linnie who is sweet with me. He is a bit aggressive with my husband. He whistles the Andy Griffith Song and talks quitely sometimes. He has a pretty good vocabulary, says hi, pretty bird, whatca doing, I love you, hello and give me a kiss. However, he's not always quite. He is a screamer when he wants out of the cage. And he runs and hides when I try to put him back in. He is a beautiful bird but he is a handfull.

OK I just got ask, How old do these linnie birds live? I mean I was a kid when Andy Griffith was on, and now many years later...

Murray NZ

Welcome aboard, SCH! What's his name? Do you have any pictures?

Nate Waddoups
Redmond WA USA

I have had 2 cockatiels which had to be given up because of health issues of my elderly husband. They are currently in a very loving home and I get regular reports on them. We now have had a beautiful canary for a year and a half, and my husband absolutely adores him. But one day I know I will lose my husband, I see that time coming. At that time I will want another bird that will hang out on me for quality time. I have researched the parrotlet and the linnies, and have come to the conclusion that a linnie will be my bird of choice. We live in an apartment and I will need a quiet bird. Also, I am 63 years old and a bird that lives for 20 or 30 years might not be the best, although I would arrange for a good home for a bird if need be. Sunny Boy and I will have room in our home and our hearts for a little feathered friend.

Think positive - about 40 years would be just fine. :-) Anyway, check with bird rescue operations in your area - there are many of them around the USA at least, and they are often looking for good homes to adopt (or just foster) birds that need homes.

Nate Waddoups
Redmond WA USA

Spree is now posted on the site. He's such a pretty bird.

Spree's photo is there now. I also have one of him eating popcorn with the tiel which I'll try to locate and post.

Hi folks. I saw two Linnies in a local pet store sharing the same cage with a number of other species, including Fischers' LOvebirds and cockatiels. Each time I visited, they had less and less tail feathers! They also weren't allowed to stand on the perch and instead preferred to hang on the bars of the cage. It became too much for me, and I bought them.

They were transported home without fuss, and have taken a liking to a large cage all of their own. I improved their diet, giving them apple and soaked seeds, which they seem to relish. First they started taking a pride in their own, and then their partner's, appearance. Then they began to sing - or whatever their understanding of singing is - really quite delightful and very calming.

They were very weak and scruffy at first, but now (after six weeks)they are coming on really well. I returned to the pet store to ask about their history. They seemed juvenile, and this was confirmed by the store owners, being this year's breeding. They behave like a pair, but they are still too young to differentiate by looking at the eye patch and their feather coloration (I have been doing my homework!) One is more vocal than they other, and ocasionally they have little noisy squabbles - so I'm hoping its love.

How would I go about allowing them to breed? By putting in a nest box and material, or should I leave it up to them entirely? It is the first time I've ever kept this breed and I'm quite enchanted. Are their any general tips I should know?

Thanks, Bob.

This page has a bit of information about breeding linnies:
http://www.parrot-link.co.uk/parrakeets.htm

Apparently they like nestboxes, so giving them one should make them more likely to breed. The writer says it only takes 6 months to a year for them to reach maturity, so you could have more birds real soon. :-) That they get along so well already seems quite encouraging.

Nate Waddoups
Redmond WA USA