Barred Parakeet
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[Photo] Male turquoise lineolated (barred) parakeet at about 7 weeks of age.

The Barred Parakeet (Bolborhynchus lineola, also known as Lineolated Parakeet or Catherine Parakeet) is a bird found in western Panama, southern Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, northern Colombia, Venezuela and the Andean mountains in Peru.

Their habitat is the forests and mountains up to 2000 m above sea level or so. They spend some of their time on the ground, but sleep high in the trees. They are not affected by cold and have been seen taking snow baths. They are found in the wild in groups of 6 to 30 although bigger groups (up to 150 birds) are known. They eat fruit, dry seeds, germinated seeds and even insect larvae. They are green and black birds with little difference between males and females except in tail colour.

They are roughly 6¾ inches (170 mm) in length. They weigh on average, a petite 47 to 55 grams. Oddly, they prefer to run and climb rather than fly.

There are many colour mutations in aviculture which are: blue, cobalt, turquoise (shown), mauve, lutino (bright yellow with red eyes), creamino, cinnamon, golden, pied, silver and violet.

These parakeets are becoming increasingly popular as pets in Europe and North America, due to their even-tempered and affectionate disposition. Barred parakeets tend to be MUCH quieter than other species, such as conures. Their average lifespan is about 10 years, but individual birds have been known to live up to 15 years.

There is a Yahoo! group dealing with lineolated parakeets, by owners and breeders.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barred_Parakeet

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