Canary/Finch question...

bonkers · Post by **bonkers** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 4:17 pm

Okay--the more I surf the more confused I am getting. Can anyone tell me a good site to go to for pictures of canaries? I recently purchased a pair of yellow singers ---the male is what he is supposed to be and sings a lot--or did--the female I think is actually a GREEN Singing Canary instead of a yellow female. My question is ---is the Green Singing Canary the same as the Green Singing Finch. The male is 7 1/2 months and the female is 8 months--but she is larger than the yellow male by a tidge and I thought females usually are some what smaller than the male. She is brownish green with a yellow breast. A yellow singer female should be ALL yellow right????

bonkers · Post by **bonkers** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 5:00 pm

Okay--did some more surfing. Joined the yahoo group on Green Singing Finches----

definitely have a yellow singing male and a green singing female. Duh!---should have done my homework better.

Post by **Sally** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 12:59 am

So do you have a yellow canary and a green singing finch?

bonkers · Post by **bonkers** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 10:05 pm

That's what I was wondering.... I bought the two as a singing canary pair--- so is the Green Singing Finch the same as a Green Singing Canary? Is a Canary a finch? Because IF a GSCanary is different than a GSFinch---I am definitely going to make a phone call and ask for an exchange!

I stopped by PetCo today just to look at their birds and they did have a female singing canary and she was yellow just like my male only a shade lighter I think. so since I am a newbie to the bird world---I am not sure what the heck I have a hen of!

Post by **Sally** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 1:01 am

The finch family is made up of many genuses, I guess that is the right spelling, and Green Singing finches and Canaries are both in the genus Serinus. Green Singing finches are Serinus mozambicus, from Africa, and Canaries are Serinus canaria, from the Canary Islands, originally. They are both members of the finch family, though domestic canaries are sometimes regarded by the public as a separate species, as people will refer to finches and/or canaries, yet canaries ARE finches. It is confusing.

If you bought a pair of canaries, and you have doubts, I would go back to the place where you purchased the pair. There are a few pictures of a male Green Singing finch under species at the FIC. Here is a site I found that has some info on Green Singers:

http://members.tripod.com/~Saahira/gree ... 2index.htm

I have a pair of Green Singing finches, recently imported, the male measures 4" from head to tail. I have a male Green Singing finch, domestically bred, that measures 5" from head to tail. These are often referred to as 'small' and 'large' Green Singers, adding even further to the confusion. There are many subspecies of Serinus mozambicus, so I must have two different subspecies.

If you go back to where you purchased the pair, and get further information on them, please post it here, as I am very interested. Also, if you have any photos, that might help. You definitely want to find out what you have--though they are related, they are not the same.

bonkers · Post by **bonkers** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 2:10 pm

Gesh it's hard to photograph these little creatures! Talk about blurs!!!

I did get a couple of decent pictures you can see the colors and shape of them---but I've tried for 20 minutes to insert them here in this post and I am frustrated so giving up for a while.

My male is singing this afternoon!!! I love it!!!!!

Are there any breeders close to NE Kansas on here????

bonkers · Post by **bonkers** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 6:01 pm

Okay---finally caught up with the girl I bought my birds from! She said if she remembered me right that the male is a Yellow American Singer and the female is a variegated Gloster Consort.

I knew the female looked heavier and more round looking than the male so I thought the two were entirely different! Egads!!!!! The more I read the more confused I get it seems! Well back to surfing!!!!

Post by **Sally** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 9:32 pm

So you do have a pair of canaries, then. That's great news--I don't know anything about canaries except that there are an awful lot of different types, seems like nothing is simple anymore.

bonkers · Post by **bonkers** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 10:22 pm

Oh man---I'm confused! Wish I would have stuck with Owl Finches and originally I wanted a pair of strawberry finches. I saw them in an Earl May's store about 15 years ago. And I hunted for years because when I went back to get them someone had already purchased them. So it's taken me awhile to get brave enough to actually get some pairs!!!! My Cordon Bleu male finch is singing up a storm. I think he is trying to outdo the canary. He thinks there is only one female left in the world and by golly that old yellow bird isn't going to "woo her"!!!!

I have another cage coming--thought it would be here today but it wasn't--I don't think I should have them all together. But they are all getting along for now.

I was looking at the site about the Green Singer Finches---they have more yellow on their heads than the female I have. Some of the birds look so much a like and the book I have isn't very good picture wise. So I have been just surfing the internet about finch care!

What kind of birds do you have Sally? Other than the Green Singers?

Post by **Sally** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 8:16 pm

Other than the Green Singers (and I just got a mate for my male today, so that gives me 2 pair of them), I have Gouldians, Stars, Owls, Strawberries, Goldbreasts, Fire finches, Blue-capped Cordon Bleus, and a pair of Red-cheeked Cordon Bleus just arrived today. So I have collectoritis! I think some of the people who have been at this a long time eventually wind up specializing in just a few species, but I still have the 'I want all of them' syndrome.

The Green Singers are difficult to get information on. There is a yahoo group devoted to them, but it is hard to find photos showing the different variations.