General Species Information

Common Name: Canary

Scientific Name:
Uraeginthus cyanocephala; Yellow-Fronted Canary - Serinus mozambicus Variations of the canary species are generally grouped into categories distinguished by song, feather pattern, feather tendency, posture, body shape, and color. I've included a list of all the canary species I am aware of and divided them accordingly.

--------------------------------------------------

Country Of Origin:
Canaries in the pet trade are a domesticated only species. The only still truly wild species is the yellow-fronted canary, originally from islands off the northwestern coast of Africa, including the Canary Islands. Traders introduced canaries in Europe during the late fifteenth century, where collectors of exotic birds began to breed and hybridize them with other song birds, creating the many different types of canaries we know today. Goldfinches are still used as a hybridizing species with canaries to increase color variations, but most offspring from these crosses are often mules, unable to reproduce their own offspring. These hybrids can be purchased in the pet trade, but are usually not allowed in show rings because they are not a viable species.

--------------------------------------------------

Social Behavior:
Yellow-Fronted Canary: In the wild these birds are extremely social with their own species and are found in small flocks. This species still has direct descendants found in the wilds of Southern Africa.

--------------------------------------------------

Sexing/Markings:
Yellow-Fronted Canary: These birds have a light to dark brown body with a yellowish hue ranging from a slight tinge to a very bright, bold yellow. Their bellies, throats, cheeks, and eye markings tend to be pure yellow while their backs, heads, and wings display the darker, brownish feathers.
The "common" canary is unable to be identified by markings or color, and as of late, by song. It used to be that males were the ones who sang and had all the color. However, breeding has produced a variety of different markings, colors, and abilities to learn songs in both sexes. (I currently have a singing, yellow with white female.)

-Males of the yellow-fronted canaries have a solid yellow breast. The overall color is more intense than the females as well. All other domesticated canaries are indistinguishable from their female counterparts in many cases.
Males, in both canary species, are the only ones that truly "sing". This does not mean that the females are mute, but their calls are just that-- a small, short response "tweet" to the males' very long, beautifully woven together harmony of several different sounds.

-Females of the yellow-fronted canary have a spotted chain of dark spots, forming what appears to be a bib, on the throat. Their overall color is not as bright as the males. As for other domesticated canaries, the non-color mutated types are generally of a brown, almost house finch like appearance. Because of color, feather type and patter breeding, this is no longer the case except for the most "basic" of all canaries. Females do not sing more than a few "tweets" or chirps, but some have learned to sing bits of the male's songs. They are not as long or complicated though.

--------------------------------------------------

Housing:
It is best to keep one male with several females because the males may fight for dominance, especially during breeding season. If a large flight cage or aviary is available to them, several males can be kept together quit comfortably, making sure there is at least one female for every male present. For a single canary, a cage 12"L x 18"W x 18"H is sufficient, although more space allowing for flight is ideal for regular exercise.

Because canaries are prone to obesity, perches should be placed far enough apart to force the birds to fly. Placing treat cups with egg food near perches away from other sources of food isvery enticing and also encourages them to move about the cage more frequently. Regular food and water dishes should also be placed in several different locations, if possible, or at least apart from one another.

--------------------------------------------------

Breeding:
Males sing to attract mates. When a young male begins to work on his song lyrics, he's indicating that he's prime for breeding. Sometimes a male's song, however beautiful, means anything but. Body posture while singing is important to note, especially if the canaries are housed near another male, or in a large aviary setting. A male who sings louder, longer and with an imposing posture is letting the other male(s) know that he's in his territory and they are not welcome, while at the same time, he's letting the females know that he's the one in charge and they should be listening to him over the others nearby.

Once a pair has bonded, the male will most likely subdue his song; why continue to sing when he's already won his prize? A canary nest should be present, however, before the male and female are introduced together. Canary nests are the open nest that most of us are familiar with and are easily obtained from any pet store that sells bird supplies. (If you cannot find, or do not know what I am referring to, ask a sales associate. Even the sales person who knows nothing about birds, except where they are in their store, should be able to locate one for you.) A soft string-like material should be provided for the canaries to line their nests with. This material can be found at pet stores, but it's simple enough to cut a cotton string into 1" strips yourself. Soft, short grasses and even tiny pieces of discarded clothing may be incorporated into a canary's nest. If you provide any kind of "home-made" material, make certain that it is something the parents and chicks will not get tangled in.

Breeding accommodations are generally small cages where the birds do not have to go far from the nest to find food and water. The males are also less stressed because they do not have to defend a larger area from other invading finches. Clutch size is usually 4-5 pale green and dark speckled eggs. Incubation lasts about 13-14 days, and fledging occurs at 14 days of age. A good quality, healthy pair is capable of producing several clutches a year.

The young must be fed a high protein diet, which is most commonly supplied as egg food. Canaries inhale the stuff anyway, but there should be a constant supply while they are brooding and rearing young. The parents will continue to feed their young for awhile after they have fledged, so do not remove the egg food as soon as the chicks take flight. When you notice that the parents are no longer rearing, the egg food can be given on their usual schedule.

--------------------------------------------------

Diet:
A high protein diet is a must. When not trying to breed, these birds will still require regular feedings of egg food as a supplement to their regular seed diet. Some canaries will accept a commercially prepared insect-meal and the occasional live waxworm or mealworm. A basic seed diet can be found on the Savory Seeds page, but Canary diet requirements are slightly different than most other finches. While they can survive on finch seed just fine, rape, teazel, hemp, canary grass seed, and Niger seed should be added to the mixture in more generous quantities.

--------------------------------------------------

Mutations:
Only one known color mutation exists for the yellow-fronted canary, where the overall coloration is slightly more pale.

Colors for all other domesticated canaries are split into two primary categories: pigmented color-bred canaries and non-pigmented, otherwise known as lipochrome. Though both groups can be quite colorful, the pigmented canaries are classified as those with the black and brown patterned feathers. The lipochrome is in referrence to those without these markings, such as the solid yellow color by which canaries are known. For a more detailed explanation of colors, feather patterns, and posture types, click here.

--------------------------------------------------

Please Note:
Many people acquire canaries for a single purpose: to hear them sing. While there are many beautiful song birds available to collectors and hobbyist, canaries are renown world-wide for having the most intricate, pleasing, and longest songs in the finch world. Often purchasing a canary from a retail store does not guarantee this however. Canaries need to learn their songs from their fathers, or other males while they are growing up. They can, and do, mimic other songs to some degree, even adding them to their own repertoire of lyrics when performing their mating calls.

The best way to make a canary sing, is to have one or more males nearby that already sing. Housing them together is not optimal because if a male is singing, he's trying to attract a mate. Having another male present in his "territory" may be taken as a challenge to his breeding grounds and a fight may ensue. Hearing the constant songs of the "competing" males will eventually entice him into song. Because they are extremely social with other finches, I don't like to house them alone. They may not always sing, or sing as frequently, but they are happier when surrounded by other canaries or docile finches their size.

It should also be noted that canaries can hybridize with almost every finch species, and vice versa. The canaries that breed with other finches tend to produce live young more often, whereas a finch that has bred with a canary tends to almost always produce infertile eggs. If you do not desire your birds to crossbreed, then house the canaries separately.

--------------------------------------------------

( Canary - French Frill varieties )
Parisian French Frill
North Dutch Frilled
South Dutch Frilled
Gibber Italicus
Milanais French Frill
Giboso Espagnol
Padovan Crested (Italian Crested French Frill)
Fiorino Crested
Fiorino Plainhead Frilled
Swiss French Frill
Japanese Frilled
Mehringer

--------------------------------------------------

( Canary - Posture varieties )
Belgian bossu
Scotch Fancy
Japan Hoso
Munchener Canary
Rheinlander

--------------------------------------------------

( Canary - Marked varieties )
Lizard
--------------------------------------------------

( Canary - Song type varieties )
Harz Mountain Roller
Waterslagers
Spanish Timbrado
American Singers

--------------------------------------------------

( Canary - Shape varieties )
Norwich
Border
Berner (Bernois)
Fife Fancy
Spanish Dwarf (Raza Espangnol)
Yorkshire
Irish Fancy

--------------------------------------------------

( Canary - Crested varieties )
Gloster Plainhead (Consort)
Gloster Crested (Consort)
Crested and Crestbred
German Crested
Lancashire Crested
Columbus Fancy Crested
Stafford Canary Crested

--------------------------------------------------