The canary originated in the Canary Islands which were named not for the bird, but for the large fierce dogs kept by the local people. “Insula canaria” is Latin for “island of the dogs” and over time the name came to be the Canary Islands. A small local grayish green finch with a touch of yellow on its breast was given the name Canary after the Islands. The males of this breed of finch had a wonderful song prompting some of the locals to capture them and put them in cages in their homes.
European travellers visiting these islands heard the songs of these birds and requested that the locals catch them so they could take them home as pets. From the early fifteen hundreds onward, hundreds of thousands of these birds were exported to Europe. Early on, it was observed that Canaries are very susceptible to air pollution. As a result, because coal mining was big business, the miners began taking caged Canaries down into the mines. When the Canary died, the miners knew that coal gas was present and they evacuated the mine before the coal gas exploded. The lives of many miners were saved by these great little birds. Because of the popularity of these birds, European entrepreneurs began breeding them locally. Through selective breeding and cross breeding them with local and imported finches, this drab finch was slowly changed into the Canaries of today. Today’s Canaries are bred either for song or for type (appearance).
“Type” Canaries were primarily developed in Great Britain which went in for exhibiting their birds in national expositions. The London Fancy, the Norwich, the Yorkshire, the Lizard and the Manchester Coppy are a few of these “type” Canaries that were developed in Great Britain.
Meanwhile, in Germany Canaries were bred for song. If you have ever heard a German Roller Canary sing, it is a truly magnificent sound. Not only did the Germans keep the best singers for breeding stock, but they also trained the offspring how to sing by placing the young birds in a room with a great singer. In this way, the youngsters would try and imitate the song and voice of the great singer. This resulted in a breed of bird that probably has the greatest song of any bird in the world.
The pet Canary sold in pet stores today is a mixed breed with an unknown bloodline. Usually it has some Roller or American Singer genes mixed with a colourful “type” bloodline. The resulting bird is an average to a good singer with a colourful appearance. Frequently these birds come from a local “backyard” aviary. In this way, they don’t suffer from the stress of a long journey from the breeder to the seller. In addition, the birds are more acclimatized to the area where they are purchased.
Some of these birds have smooth feathered heads like that of the Roller Canary or the “traditional” Canary and some have the Gloster Corona or crested head which makes it look like Moe of the comedy troupe “The Three Stooges.”
While Canary clubs and competitions still exist in various parts of the world, they are not as popular as they were seventy to two hundred years ago when nearly every city had one or more clubs and yearly competitions. In spite of this, the Canary is still a popular pet. It is relatively inexpensive to purchase, quite easy to care for and, if you pick a good singer, it will give you hours of daily song.
One note of caution, though; as mentioned above, Canaries cannot stand polluted air. If you are painting inside your home, make sure you move your Canary into a room as far from the painting as possible. Also, if you are cleaning your oven make sure your Canary is moved to an area of the house that has no fumes. My mom and dad lost “Rusty,” their Canary, a year ago when they used ground up corn cobs as litter in the bottom of the cage. This type of litter, like kitty litter, has too much dust for Canaries.
If you want a pretty bird that will sing its heart out for you then you cannot find a better pet than a male Canary. The females are nice, but they cannot sing, as their voice consists mostly of cheeps and chirps. There is one note of caution to keep in mind. Canaries are very vain birds and if you put a mirror in their cage, they will sit and look at themselves for hours. The males usually will not sing if a mirror is placed in their cage and there have been numerous incidents of Canaries starving to death because they wouldn’t leave the bird in the mirror alone long enough to find the food in their cage.
So, if you want an attractive bird that sings, is easy to keep, and is relatively inexpensive, then get yourself a male Canary and put it in a cage with no mirror. Make sure your vain virtuoso has a bird bath as Canaries love to bathe. Place the cage in an area where there are no drafts and where at least part of the cage is shaded from the sun. Then sit back and let your new pet serenade you. Mom and dad's current Canary, “Jasper” starts singing just after sunup and he sings on and off until nearly midnight. When he hits high “E” it can make your ears hurt, but he sure can sing.
Until next time,
Teia
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