Data sheet canary
German name:
canary
Scientific name:
Serinus canaria forma domestica
Origin:
Canary Islands, Madeira, Azores
Size:
13 cm – 14 cm song and color canaries
11 cm – 23 cm gestalt canaries
Weight:
15-25 grams
Color:
many colors possible
age expectation:
6 – 15 years
Behave
Lining:
grain and seed mix, fruit and green fodder
Behave:
agile
Number:
at least in pairs, keeping in swarms outside of the breeding season is possible
Difficulty level:
Beginner Quadell, Yellow finch 1, CC BY-SA 3.0
The canary, also known as canary or kanari, descends from the Canary Canary, a species of bird found in the Canary Islands, Madeira and the Azores. These birds were brought to Central Europe and bred here as early as the 15th century.
They were very popular as cage birds, mainly because of their song. The original canary was lemon yellow, but through targeted breeding there are now canaries in the colors orange, red-orange, red, brown, brown-silver, light grey, white and white-yellow as well as melanin striped or dashed. Today a distinction is made between song and shape canaries.
Singing canaries are: Harzer Roller, Wasserschläger and American Singer. Gestalt or Postular canaries bred specifically for their looks include: Crested Canary, Crested Bossu, Fancy, Belge and Milanese Frisé.
acquisition and maintenance
If you want to get canaries, you should avoid going to a pet shop and certainly not ordering them online. It is much better to contact an experienced breeder or ask at the nearby animal shelter. In any case, you will receive professional advice.
In addition, a potential buyer should examine the birds closely for the following details:
- Do the birds look healthy in general?
- Are they alert and alert?
- Is her plumage smooth and clean
- Clean yourself regularly
- Have three toes pointing forward and one backward on their feet.
If all of this is true, then that gives a lot of certainty that the birds are doing well.
Requirements for keeping canaries
Even when purchasing one, it should be borne in mind that it is animal cruelty to keep only one bird, because the animals are naturally sociable. It is best to keep them as a pair, i.e. a hen and a rooster. Two male specimens would usually fight fiercely in their narrow territory, in which, in the worst case, the weaker bird could even die. Two hens together works better, but even they don’t always get along. If you buy your birds from a breeder, there is usually the possibility of exchanging a cock or a hen if the socialization of two specimens does not work at all.
Even the specialists sometimes argue about whether canaries are to be regarded as flock birds or not. In the wild, canaries travel in loose flocks in winter, but they live in pairs during courtship, laying and breeding. They can therefore be kept in a larger group if the aviary is large enough and there is space to retreat. During laying and breeding, however, they should be kept separately as a pair, which is why this form of husbandry is less complicated for beginners all year round. If you hold them together in groups, then the harem posture (one rooster, several hens) proved to be particularly good.
At the very least, there must always be more hens than cocks to avoid territorial wars. Even if you don’t want to breed at all, breeding in pairs of canaries usually cannot be suppressed. In this case, the eggs in the nest should be replaced with plastic eggs. In this case, the hen loses interest after a certain time and leaves the nest.
In any case, keeping canaries well includes a sufficiently large cage or, even better, an appropriate aviary. For a couple, a cage should not be smaller than 80 x 80 x 60 cm, better still much larger. A species-appropriate facility with sleeping places, food, water and toys is also important and a breeder can also give valuable tips here. But of course, even the largest cage does not replace the possibility of free flight. The animals should therefore be given the opportunity, with appropriate precautionary measures, to be able to fly freely in the room from time to time. Canaries, who have their own bird room with corresponding possibilities, have certainly drawn the “big ticket”.
feed and nutrition
The basis for feeding canaries are grains, which can be bought in suitable ready-mixes. But the birds also love vegetables such as carrots, cucumbers, zucchini, fennel, spinach, iceberg lettuce and lamb’s lettuce. They also like to nibble on fresh herbs such as parsley, basil, cress and chervil, as well as fresh fruit such as apples, pears, melon, peaches and Grapes. Other delicacies for them are chickweed, dandelion, sorrel and nettle, but also millet and the panicles of many types of grass. Should the birds have young, there is special egg and young bird feed until the nestlings are old enough to eat normal grain feed. But even during the moult, so-called egg food should be given from time to time.
This can also be quark, yoghurt, cream cheese or a hard-boiled egg. In general, you have to be careful not to overfeed the animals. In addition to the actual species-appropriate diet, canaries also need roughage, which should be offered in the form of twigs and twigs from fruit trees, birches, alders, willows, oaks, spruces and pines. In addition, of course, fresh water should not be missing.