Canary Bird

Description

Native to the Canary Islands near northwestern Africa, there are over 200 known breeds of canaries that differ in color, size, and singing varieties. This care sheet outlines basic care needs for a variety of canary species, including:

• Yellow canaries
• Red-factor canaries
• Variegated canaries

There are three main breeds of canaries: song canaries, color canaries, and type canaries:

• Song canary breeds, such as American singers and German rollers, are bred to sing specific types of songs.
• Color-bred canaries, including yellow and red-factor canaries, are bred to have specific feather colors.
• Type canaries are bred for a specific shape, size, or body type, such as the bowl-cut-like tuft of feathers on the heads of Gloster canaries.

Male canaries sing to attract females during breeding periods, typically in the fall, winter, and spring. During the summer, when canaries are molting their feathers, males will not sing.

While canaries can be hand-tamed with time and patience, they generally do not enjoy heavy handling in the way parrots, like budgies, do.