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IN THE WILD

The canary is a finch, it belongs to the “serin” family of finches.  The domestic canary, as we know it, originally came from the “wild” canary of the Canary Islands, Azores and Mediera.  The wild canary is a rather plain little bird that is yellowish-olive green with some dark markings, it is about 5” long.

IN CAPTIVITY

According to most authorities, the Spanish first domesticated the canary in the early 1500’s.  Over the last few hundred years’ selective breeding has resulted in the many different “types” of canaries that are available today.  The domestic canary is actually a combination of different serins; an example of this is when the hooded siskin was added to the mix, it produced a red canary.  Canaries are now grouped into separate categories; Colour-bred (all red-orange canaries), Type (bred for size & shape, i.e. Gloster, Border, etc.) and song (roller canaries).  Average life-span for a canary is 12-14 years.

AS A PET

Sexing a canary is very difficult.  An experienced breeder may, with some accuracy, be able to sex a canary by looking at it, but most of us have to go on the song.  Only male canaries have a full song, the females usually don’t sing (though, occasionally a female may twitter a few bars, it is not like a males song).

It is the beautiful song of the male canary that makes it so attractive as a pet.  Intimate interaction with its owner is generally very limited.  Some people believe that different types or colours of canaries sing better than other canaries, not necessarily true.  The song of a canary is influenced by a couple of factors; one is what type of songs his family is capable of, the song that he learned and most importantly, how he personalizes his own song.  The colour and type of canary usually play a bigger role on influencing the new owner than the song.  The “song” canaries (or rollers) are a different type of singer, they tend to sing a trained song with their beak closed.  Unfortunately true “rollers” are very hard to find.

CAGING

A canary requires plenty of flying room within a cage for its physical and emotional health.  When you are looking for a cage for a canary, always remember that length is more important than height.  Canaries get more exercise flying horizontally than vertically.  This being said, a minimum size cage would be 19”*11”*15” high, bigger is better.  Round cages are not suitable, as they are not big enough to give the birds room to fly.  Dishes that can be serviced from outside the cage are beneficial, preventing unwanted escapes while you are feeding. The perches that are used with canaries, should be 1/2” in diameter.

DIET

Caged canaries are prone to obesity.  Therefore a seed mix that is low in fatty seeds does much to increase vitality, song & long life.  A good seed mix will consist mainly of “canary grass seed”, with a small amount of millets and fatty seed (niger, rape, etc.), such as Feathered Friends Canary Mix.

Canaries require gravel in their diet to grind up the seed in the gizzard. Canaries also require a vitamin supplements, Feathered Friends Aqua-Vite and mineral supplements, such as Complete Mineral Supplement, as a seed diet alone is deficient in both.

Canaries enjoy having “treats” in their diet.  A treat is any food that is not a staple and it should be fed to them accordingly. There are many good treat mixes, such as Feathered Friend Canary/Finch Treat Mix. Most canaries will also eat fruits and vegetables, such as broccoli, kale, spinach, carrot tops, dandelion, chickweed, apple, pear, melons, bananas, persimmons, etc.  Lettuce should be avoided, as it is mostly water.  Always feed fruits and vegetables in small amounts and if you hang them in the cage, the canary is more likely to try it.