Domestic Canary

(Serinus Canarius Domesticus)

Description: There are many different types of Domestic Canaries which vary in description amoung species mutation. What I will describe here is the most common domesticated "type" Canary, the Border Canary. They are bred in a variety of colors including solid yellow, white, blue and cinnamon. Solid yellow or white colored Canaries are normaly refered to as "Clears" while solid green, cinnamon or blues are called "Selfs". Pied Canaries are stated to be "Variegated". Border type Canaries are hardy birds with a well rounded head and big, alert eyes. They do resemble a Norwich Canary but are smaller. Border Fancys are most often confused with the Gloster Canary but can be differentciated by the song. Chopper notes can be heard by the Border while the Gloster sings with more of a Roller-Chopper mix.

Size: The Border Canary is somewhat larger than the roller breeds but smaller than a Norwhich. Being very close to resembling the Gloster Canary this "type" bred bird is larger averaging about 5.5 inches (14cm).

Origin: The original Canary was discovered in the Canary Islands which is off the coast of South Africa around the late 1470's. Canaries have been considered documented pets since the year 1610. By 1790 many of the current Canary breeds were already established. Now more than 28 various types of Canaries have been bred. The newest bred Canaries being the Red-Factor, Stafford and Wee-Gem Border Canaries.

The Border Canary itself originated from the "common" chopper Canary selectively bred in the British Isles around the 1700's, it became established and was bred further more on the border of England and Scotland. In 1889 a gathering at the Border town of Langholm was held and the name Border Canary and it's standards were put into effect.

Mutations/Sub-species: There are many different mutations and sub-species of the Canary. I myself do not even know them all. I will list some of the most common types of Canaries which have been bred in a chart below. First let's start with the basics and say there were two different song types of Canaries known as Choppers and Rollers. Choppers sing loud, choppy song notes with their beaks wide open while Rollers sing a softer, lower tune melody in which their beak reamins shut or just barely opens. Most often Choppers are bred for "type" (size, color & desposition) while Rollers are bred strictly for "song". Most "type" bred Canaries come in a variety of colors such as Yellow, White, Buff, Blue, Cinnamon, Green, Ticked and Variegated while most "song" bred Canaries lack the many different color mutations. The majority of today's Colorbred Canaries are Chopper singers.

Diet: A good Canary diet must include mixed seeds such as canary seed, rape seed, millet, hemp, niger and teazel. Fresh water, cuttlebone and grit/oyster shell should also be supplied at all times. Lettuce, Spinach, Chickweed, Spray Millet, Eggfood, Brocolli tops and Carrot tops can also be offered on a regular basis. Red Factors Canaries must be color fed to maintain red plumage. If they are not color fed they will turn a orange-yellow color. We offer our Red factors a product called Pastochemi R which is added to soft food such as Petamine. They really seem to love this stuff. There are also other products you can use to color feed such as Xantofil, Roxanthin, Canthraxin, Bogena Red or Orlux eggfood. Some color agents are added to the drinking water while others are mixed in with soft food.

General Care: Do not forget to trim your Canary's nails on occasion and provide bath water daily.

Compatibility: This bird is a good specimen for a mixed aviary provided there is plently of room and other birds out number the Canaries. During the breeding season or when you have Canary males housed together they will become agressive towards each other in the presence of females.

Housing: These birds do best in a large planted aviary with mixed species. If you are wanting them to breed you can seperate them by pairs into breeding cages. Canaries can tolerate low temperatures of 50 degrees if natualy aclimatized to it over a period of time but if they are suddenly removed for warmer temps and placed into cold climate they can become ill. Do not house them in round cages. We breed our Canaries in tier-style breeding cages. They seem to enjoy the privacy of solid wall divided breeder cages but we have bred them with wire divided breeding cages with the same success. All our young weaned Canries are placed in a large flight cage to color up and exercise untill paired up the following year. Our pairs are also placed in large flights by sex during summer to rest from breeding and molt.

Song: As mentioned above there were originaly two types of songs, the "Roller" version and the "Chopper" version. Roller Canary males singing a soft rolling song with their mouth closed or just barely open while Chopper Canary males sing a loud, vibrant chopping song with thier beak wide open. These different singing birds were bred together to create birds such as Glosters and American Singers which can sing both "Roller" and "Chopper" notes. Clcik on the links below to hear different songs.

Breeding: The normal breeding period for Canaries is March-May. Most established pairs of Canaries make excellent parents.There are exceptions but the eggs from bad parents can easily be fostered under good Canary parents. Once you determine you have a pair and condition them for breeding you can place the hen in one side of a double breeder cage with a canary nest and place the male in the other side. You will notice the male canary feeding the hen through the cage bars and paying a lot of attention to her. This is when you can take out the divider and add in nesting material. It is important to provide nesting material because it craddles the eggs better & keeps the chicks warmer. Canaries prefer soft nesting material such as shredded paper, cotton, siscal, coconut fibers or tissue paper. The hen normaly builds the nest while the male helps her gather materials. After breeding takes place the hen lays 3-6 eggs which are light blue with brown speckles. She will incubate the eggs for 14 days while the male stands guard. After hatching, chicks can be close banded at 6-7 days old. The young Canaries will fledge around 2 weeks old and the male then assumes feeding responsibilities until the young are weaned.