By Laura Doering
If variety is the spice of life, canaries must be the spice of the bird world. Although all canaries belong to the same genus (Serinus), there are many varieties to choose from nonetheless. First, there are the three main breeds — a color canary, a type canary or a song canary. Then, there are the numerous varieties in each breed. And to make matters even more confounding, there are many mixed breeds of canaries to choose from. It is difficult to fathom that all these varieties evolved from a single ancestor, the wild canary (Serinus canaria) of the Canary Islands.
History
Canaries were originally bred exclusively for their impressive song. After being introduced by the Spaniards (who conquered the Canary Islands in the late 15th century) to Europe, canaries were so enthusiastically bred that 29 distinct varieties existed by the beginning of the 18th century. Adding to the mix are today's bird breeders who strive to create even more colors and types of canaries.
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Something To Sing About
The word "canary" often conjures up the image of a little yellow bird (canary yellow to be exact) whistling from its hanging cage and/or fluttering back and forth. They are a grandma's-kind of bird (think back to those Tweety Bird cartoons) and add a lovely ambiance to any room or garden. However, as many BIRD TALK readers have discovered, there are more to canaries than meets the eye (or the ear).
The canary's song seems to win most of their owners over. "I had wanted a canary for a long time, mostly for the cheery song," says BIRD TALK reader Caitlin Lion of New Jersey about her 2-year-old bronze factor named Pip. "I would recommend a canary most especially to anyone who's home a lot to appreciate and enjoy its song and little games. Even on a bad day, the joyous songs Pip bursts out make us smile and lift our hearts."
Cari Feldmann of Iowa, owner of 4-year-old male roller canary Gizmo, relates that "His song wakes me up in the morning and calms my soul throughout the day ... His voice is enough to make us all happy — no gifts, no tricks are required. What a gift he is to us!"
For many owners, canaries are much more than musical decor. Most who keep canaries as pets speak highly of the bird's happy demeanor. Jasmine Metz of Illinois points out that if her 4-year-old male waterslager canary, Tinky, had a mouth instead of a beak, "I swear he'd have a smile all the time. He's the happiest living creature I've ever seen. Every bit of food I put in his cage he loves to try. He even likes the little toys I give him. He keeps busy all day eating and playing."
Owner George Livernois describes how Patch, his 11-year-old male canary, "no longer tries to sing and is arthritic in one foot, but it's such a joy to watch him enjoy another morning in his small way. He enjoys the small things in life, such as good food and sunshine."
Lion states that the positive characteristics of Pip, are so many that, "he's a joy to watch. Even if he didn't sing, he'd be a great pet."
Joan Hess of California writes about being inspired by her female border type canary, Twinky. "I have continued to be inspired by this gracious creature's inner joy that has shone through a long bout of chlamydiosis, a neurological disorder that left her head upside down for several weeks, without daunting exquisite optimism (nor her appetite for bread) and an ongoing, and nearly lethal, battle with feather cysts."
Likewise, many canary owners are pleasantly surprised by their canary's playfulness. Pip, "is very playful and quick to investigate any new toys. He rings bells, plays with beads and balls and likes to strum his cage bars with his beak — like a harp! He also shreds his cage paper and puts it in his water dish (like he's trying to make paper mache!)"
Laurie Battles of Tennessee relates how her two male canaries, Sylvester and Spanky, both attack a two-sided mirror, sometimes at the same time, trying to poke the 'birds' they see in the mirror." And Californian Laura Minges' 3-year-old male canary, Nieve, demonstrates his acrobatic prowess with his "daring backward flips off the perch."
Although canaries do not speak to their owners like many parrots do, they have their own unique way of communicating. "He talks with his eyes," says Metz of Tinky. "Even though he doesn't say words, when I talk to him, he looks right into my eyes and sings a little tweedle-de-dee in answer.
Shara Kelsey of California bought her canary, Cyril, so that her jenday conure, Galan, would pick up its pleasant sounds. Instead, Cyril "picked up a softer version of Galan's whistles (calling a cab and the wolf whistle among others).
Gary Smith of Massachusetts, owner of Wylie the 3-year-old male Gloster, recommends a canary to "anyone who loves the song of a small bird in your house to delight and make you smile!" |
With so many canaries to choose from, one might conclude that the granddaddy, so to speak, of all canaries must have been a remarkably striking bird. But take a glimpse of the pet canary's wild counterpart, and you'll see a small, grayish-green and yellow bird that strikes a pose closer to a sparrow than the vibrant yellow "Tweety Bird" commonly found in pet stores.
The Color Canary
According to the Introduction to the Color Canary by J.M. Nelson, 1989, countless selective pairings of wild canaries produced the typical clear yellow bird (one without melanin pigmentation as opposed to the fully-pigmented, grayish-green wild canary). Later, the appearance of the agate canary, a green and cinnamon colored bird, marked the beginning of color breeding as a hobby. White, blue and fawn colors soon followed. Then in the early 1900s, a male, black-hooded red siskin (Spinus cucullatus) was mated to a female, yellow German roller canary, and red was added to the canary's colorful palette.
Genetically speaking, canary color is derived from two basic elements: lipochrome color, i.e. ground color, (which is yellow in the wild canary and also includes dominant white, recessive white and red) and melanin color (the dark hues of black and brown of the wild canary). When superimposed upon each other, the lipochrome and melanin colors combine to produce colors such as green, blue, bronze, cinnamon, fawn and brown.
For example, take a canary with a yellow base color (lipochrome color) and breed it with a bird that has black melanin in its genetic make-up, and you might produce a green-looking offspring.
Colored canaries include the green (bronze or blue), brown (cinnamon), ino (canaries with red eyes), pastel, red factor, dominant white, recessive white, ivory, as well as agate (also referred to as dilute green), Isabel factor and lizard canaries (that have feather markings similar to the scales of a reptile).
Some canaries are fed certain foods and/or substances to enhance color qualities in the bird's plumage. The process is called color-feeding and must begin before the canary starts to molt, at about 6 to 8 weeks of age. (Think of it as adding lemon juice to bring out the blonde highlights in your hair, only the canary is fed the food instead of wearing it.)
Cayenne pepper was one of the first substances fed to achieve a more distinct color in red factor canaries. However, you can't turn yellow a canary red just by feeding it red peppers. Ground color (i.e. the bird's natural basic color) must be compatible with the color enhancement. Thus, the orange coloring of the red canary, can be made redder by feeding it red peppers or the synthetic canthaxanthin. Color feeding and/or the use of chemicals to enhance color can be harmful to the bird's health if not done properly. Consult an experienced canary breeder or your avian veterinarian before starting a color-feeding regimen.
Song Canaries
All canaries sing, but just as with humans, some are better singers than others. Male canaries are the true troubadours (always trying to impress the lady birds), so if song quality is what you're looking for, a male canary kept singly is your best bet.
You might say that canaries are nature's "original recording artists," because they learn their songs either by imitating the songs of other birds, incorporating parts into their own song, and/or by listening to stimulating music.
The most renowned song canary is the roller or Hartz roller canary, named after the Hartz mountain region of Germany. The roller sings with its bill virtually closed and emits a soft tone deep from within its throat. The Belgian waterslager is considered to be a close runner-up to the roller canary in terms of song quality and sings notes that resemble a babbling brook.
The American singer, developed in the United States during the 1930s, is perhaps the best looking songster. It is a cross between a roller canary (thus, inheriting the roller's exquisite song) and a border canary (admired for its good looks). Spanish timbrados, on the other hand, are the loud ones of the bunch. They emit a louder, metallic call.
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The Canary Islands
Which came first, the canary or the island? The Canary Islands had the name long before the Spanish conquered the islands in 1496 and brought some of the native birds back with them to Europe. (Interestingly, the word "canary" is a derivative of the Latin word "canis," as in "dog." The Romans are said to have given the islands their name (Canaria Insula) because the islands' native inhabitants bred a large type of dog.
The Canary Islands, which are comprised of seven islands (the nearest being 67 miles off the northwest of the African mainland), were, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, visited by the Arabs as early as 999 for trading purposes. During the 13th and 14th centuries, Genoese, Majorcan, Portuguese and French navigators made their way to the islands. And since the late 1400s, Spain has ruled the subtropical islands, which also became a stopping ground for the up and coming Christopher Columbus as a place to replenish his westward fleets.
The Spanish were so taken by the little green birds with the delightful songs that they decided to take some back and introduced them to the rest of Europe. From there, Italy, Germany, France, Belgium, and much later on the U.S., created their own "home-grown" versions of these colorful little birds. |
Type Canaries
Canary types come in all shapes and sizes. There are tall and skinny, short and fat varieties as well as ones with smooth feathersand those with frilled feathers. Some belong to the crested varieties, such as the Gloster canary, which looks like it came straight from Liverpool, England, with its "shag hairdo" (and home to the Fab Four, otherwise known as the Beatles).
The most common type canaries are the border, fife, York, Norwich and Gloster. The fife and border are petite (at 41Ú2 and 51Ú2 inches each), in comparison to the burly Norwich, and gangly York canaries (at 6 1/2 and 6 3/4 inches each). Other varieties were bred for extreme qualities. The Northern Dutch frill and the Parisian frill have long, swooped feather patterns (like they were swept up by a tornado), while the Scotch fancy and the Gibber Italicus have an unnaturally bent posture.
Mules
What do you get when you cross a canary with a finch? A mule. No joke! Just as it is in the horse sense, a mule is indicative of a sterile offspring (i.e. the mating of male donkey with a female mare creates a mule). In the case of the canary, the mule is a result of a female canary bred with a male finch, with the resulting offspring usually being sterile (except in the case of the black-hooded red sisken, which was bred to a canary — thus, creating the red factor canary). Some examples of mules are goldfinch mule, the siskin mule and the greenfinch mule. Then there is the bull ... as in male bullfinch. The male bullfinch is the opposite of the mule — it is the mating of a female bullfinch to a male canary.
Lifespan And Lifestyle
If properly cared for, a pet canary can live for up to 20 years. Proper care includes suitable caging and accessories, in addition to healthy diet. At the very least, the cage should have enough room for the canary to hop from perch to perch. Cage length is more important than height, because canaries fly back and forth as opposed to up and down. Another housing option is the aviary, which allows for free flight and housing of several canaries. Keep in mind, multiple food and water dishes are important if more than one bird are housed together. A well-equipped cage and/or aviary should have wood perches that are between 1/2 to 5/8 of an inch thick, separate food dishes for seed, fruit and treats, water dishes and bowls for bathing.
Diet
Seed is the canary's basic diet and should consist of well-balanced mixed seed such as canary grass seed, rape, hemp, niger, linseed, and rolled oats. The diet should be supplemented with greenfood (mustard, cress and watercress lettuce, endive, grasses, and turnip tops), fruit (apples, bananas, pears, kiwi, watermelon, grapes and berries) and vegetables (cucumbers, soybean sprouts, broccoli and grated carrots). Cuttlebone and grit can also be offered.
Diseases
Diseases commonly found in canaries include feather cysts, canary pox (which is transmitted from bird to bird or by mosquitoes), air sac and tracheal mites (that infest the bird's respiratory system), obesity, cataracts and dry gangrene of the extremities. A sick canary often displays puffed feathers, closed eyes and diminished appetite.