For those of you who may be considering owing a Linnie as a pet here are some details.
The Lineolated is indeed a good choice for the person who wants a smaller, easy-to-care-for pet. Their average lifespan is about 10 years, but individual birds have been known to live up to 15 years - so they are less of a commitment than the larger parrots who can live up to 80 or more years.
Lineolated parakeets offer the advantages of "parrot ownership" without the major life adjustments that would come with owning one of the larger, more destructive, noisier and high-maintenance parrots. They are said to have a sweeter temperament than budgies, lovebirds or parrotlets - who have a reputation for being more aggressive by nature. A hand-fed, single pet lineolated parakeet often bonds very tightly to its owner and can be defensive of him or her. They are playful, fun little beings and can often be seen hanging upside down from their perches, sometimes even from one foot!
They are playful and tend to be quiet - chattering rather than screeching. They like to chatter in the early and late hours of the day -- as birds generally like to do. Other than those times, they usually remain quiet unless something strange happens or someone unfamiliar enters into their sight, or when trying to get your attention - at feeding times, for example. At those times, they can emit a high pitched contact call or an excited loud twittering.
People particularly enjoy the fact that they are such capable talkers. Some of them may learn to talk as youngsters, barely a few months old. Their speech is very clear, but their vocabulary tends to be limited. They are adept at learning all kinds of sounds and whistles.