Lineolated Parakeet (Linnie) Information

Sexing Lineolated Parakeets

By Shandi Thurley

Lineolated Parakeets are believed to be sexually dimorphic.  A species is sexually dimorphic if there are visible differences between sexes. Some examples of these differences are size, color and ornamental body parts used in courtship or fighting.

In the Linnie world, it is believed that there are two visible differences between the sexes.

The first is the black on the tail. Males are believed to have black running up their tail. Females are said to only have black on the tips of their tails.

If you look at the pictures below, you will see that it is very difficult to tell on some birds, while very easy and obvious on others.

Tail of a male cobalt Lineolated Parakeet

Tail of a female turquoise Lineolated Parakeet

Female left, male right

The second feature to look at when trying to visually sex Linnie is the black patches on the shoulder area. Once again the males are believed to have many black patches and spots, while the females are believed to be very light and have very few black patches.

Once again, by looking at the pictures below, you can see that it is very difficult to see differences on some birds:

Shoulder of a male green Lineolated Parakeet

Shoulder of a female turquoise Lineolated Parakeet

By looking closely at the pictures, you can tell that it is very difficult to visually sex a Linnie. This method doesn’t even taken into consider the dilutes, creaminos or lutinos, all 3 of which either do NOT have the black markings, or have light factors which make it impossible to determine sex.

It is recommended that you DNA sex your Linnie, even if you are not planning on breeding.

Justine, a member of The Linnie Forum puts it best: “…it’s the only sure way of knowing what sex your bird is. At first I didn’t think it was all that important either, but when I took my bird to an avian vet he explained the real importance (other than just knowing whether to call your bird a he or a she or for breeding purposes) is for egg-binding. Egg binding is fairly common as I hear, especially among smaller birds like linnies (although my vet said he’s seen it in African Grays and large parrots too!) and by getting your bird DNA sexed you can know for sure if it’s a female. If it’s a female then around the time she reaches maturity you can change her diet to help prevent egg binding or at least be on a closer look out for it.”

So be informed of how to better care for your bird, and DNA test.

There are some great, inexpensive ways to go about doing so. All it takes is a few feathers, or a blood sample from a nail that has been clipped too short

If you’re from the U.S., check out: Avian BioTech
And if you’re from Canada, check out: Health Gene

A big thank you to Melinda, Gail and Annee(aghast) for use of their photos.
Source: Lineolated Parakeet

Category: General, Lineolated Parakeet Health, Maintenance, Care & Safety