Canaries

[Stephens]

Hello! I'm knew here and to owning canaries so I need some advice. I rescued a couple canaries a couple months ago one of which is missing a food. I had them checked out and they say they are healthy. Lately and especially tonight the female keeps chasing the male all over the cage with mid-air arguments (?) etc. Is this a way of mating or is she suddenly unhappy with him? I know he sings to her and I've even seen her sing a pretty song too, they are also feeding each other. I put nesting material in the cage which they both seemed very happy about but instead of using it in their current nests they just throw it on the bottom of the cage. I hope someone can fill me in on this behavior and if I should remove him or if this is normal behavior. Thank you, I look forward to your help and being a member of this group.

[jonvill]

Maybe you have two males?
Try using a breeding cage with a divider.

[Diana]

If they both sing they could be 2 males.

[Zebrafincher]

Maybe keep them separate. A divider might help. Canaries will try to pair up even if you have two males! My canary male, Kevin, used to feed the other male I had, Ringo. I kept them in two separate cages, however, and supervised them together because they were sometimes aggressive to eachother/

[Stephens]

The rescue lady said it was a male/female but since she had no history of them I guess she could have been wrong. Would there be a reason they have just now started this behavior?

[30 Seconds to Bob]

Tough to say what's going on for sure. Might be two males, (but not very likely if they've gotten along for months and one is feeding the other). May be that one is in breeding condition and the other isn't. You really don't know how these birds were conditioned prior to your obtaining them, or what kind of schedule they were on. A male in breeding condition will sing feverishly - almost non-stop throughout the day. A hen will have a swollen behind like the back end of a baboon, shred paper/nesting materials and pluck her own tail feathers if nothing else is available. She will attempt to build nests in anything including the smallest of food dishes.
Finally, sometimes canaries just fight - simple as that. M/M, F/F, and M/F often get into little squabbles and arguments. They are not really social birds and often don't enjoy another's company outside of the breeding season. Just keep an eye on things and separate them if things get out of hand. Bob