A Great Pet - The Canary

The canary originated in the Canary Islands, which were not named

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 became Anglicized to its current name, The

Canary Islands. A small local grayish green finch with a touch

of yellow on its breast was given the name Canary after these

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 travelers visiting these islands heard the songs of

these birds and demanded that the local people catch them and

sell them as cage birds. From the early fifteen hundreds onward,

hundreds of thousands of these birds were exported to Europe.

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. For many

years canaries were bred as either song canaries or type canaries

(bred for appearance).

"Type" canaries were primarily developed in Great Britain that

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 colorful "type" bloodline. The resulting bird

is and average to good singer with a colorful appearance.

Frequently these birds come from a local "backyard" aviary. In

this way, they do not 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 them 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 fifty to one

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.

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

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 would not 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 keepand is relatively inexpensive, then get yourself a male canaryand put it in a cage with no mirror. Make sure your vain

virtuoso has a birdbath, 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.