any luck housing canary with other finches?

[Musetta]

Hi all,

I have heard a couple of conflicting opinions regarding housing a male canary in the same flight cage as passive finches. Right now I have my new canary, Capuchin, housed alone in his own flight cage. It is located right next to my big flight that houses 2 OCWBs, 2 RCCBs, and 4 Lady Goulds (they all get along, and it's a large space). Capuchin seems content in his present location, but it would certainly be less time consuming for me to be able to house them all together and not have to keep up with the needs of a sole bird in its own cage in addition to my 8 others (although I am happy to do so if that's what is best for Capuchin).

I am sure this topic has come up on the forum before, so I apologize for repeating the question, but I am new to canary keeping. I would like to here from you about experiences and opinions regarding canary housing. Is it worth trying, or is it just a bad idea to keep them together?

Thanks!

[bluesun0046]

I have never had a problem keeping my canaries together with my finches.

[Toddmin]

I have one male canary in my aviary, along with my Gouldians. It hasn't been a problem, but that also might be due to the amount of space.

[Rox]

As long as the cage is big enough for all of them, it should be fine. My canary's argue amongst themselves and totally ignore the finches around them.

Each bird is different, so just keep an eye on them all and make sure everyone settles ok. Squabbles in the beginning is normal but if anyone starts getting really nasty, then rather keep him alone again.

[Musetta]

Thanks for the advice, everyone! That really helps.

[Chris103]

Never had a problem with housing them together either. Keep in mind Canaries can and will produce hybrids with various species. I had a clutch of Green Singer X Timbrado Canary hybrids! They turned out wonderfully, but many people are against hybrids. So keep that in mind if you plan on adding any other species! You're good on the ones you have now though...no Gouldian X Canary hybrids documented!

[MariusStegmann]

I don't have a problem with housing my canaries with my finches. The only problem that I have is that I don't know how to stop my canaries from breeding. Even before the chicks fledge my hen starts laying eggs in a new nest. They are currently busy with their 3rd clutch.

[Chris103]

I don't have a problem with housing my canaries with my finches. The only problem that I have is that I don't know how to stop my canaries from breeding. Even before the chicks fledge my hen starts laying eggs in a new nest. They are currently busy with their 3rd clutch.

Canary breeding is alll about photoperiods. Less hours of light and they will stop! Easy to control if they are housed indoors, in an outdoor aviary, they should stop on their own when the days began to shorten.

Can't recall the exact hours of daylight needed to start/stop cycles from my Canary breeding days, but I can find it for you.

[Prism]

I have a single male canary in with some male Gouldians. It has actually worked out well because he eats anything I put in there, then the Gouldians will try it too. It's been a great way to get the Gouldians to eat more fresh foods. The canary does insist on eating first by rushing to the dish and puffing up to intimidate the Gouldians. He doesn't actually hurt them and once he has eaten, he doesn't bother them while they eat.

One Gouldian is particularly fond of the canary and follows him around a lot. I suspect it is because the canary is "red" and has a similar color to the Gouldian's "yellow" head.

My advice is move the canary in and observe. If it doesn't go well move him back. No harm done.

[dan78]

I have had few issues with combinding canaries in singles or pairs with finches that aren't cup nesters through out the year. Main concern is that a canary can become a bit of a bully around the treat container or a certain perch but the finches will usually know when it's safe to eat and where not to perch very quickly but this is with the odd make which is a alpha male when combined with other canaries so this is his personality. Simple place together when you have a day or two so you can monitor the reaction of all birds and if you feel they are coping well together then you can leave them there but expect a couple of conflicts here and there as you have added a new bird to the mix.

[lovezebs]

Hi Rachel.

My Luciano has lived with a variety of Finches, and the only ones we ran into trouble with, were two little brothers (who shall remain nameless). You guessed it, Zebras.

Right now he's residing in a somewhat overcrowded flight, (due to lack of space) with Socies, Parrott finches, Gouldians, and a lone Star female. In fact, he fancies himself an Orange Society, and has a big crush on one of my pure white Society girls. A romance apparently, which is doomed to failure. :'(

So to answer your question, yes, Canaries can live peacefully with other species. That said, I would keep an eye on things, when Canary breeding season rolls around. The boys tend to get a little edgy around that time.

~Elana~

[Musetta]

This is a great help! I appreciate everyone's advice. I moved Capuchin into the big flight yesterday...so far, so good. He is currently eating side-by-side with my Goulds. Otherwise, I haven't noticed any interaction between him and any of the cage's other inhabitants.

I wonder if he will still sing in this cage? I'll have to test that out later today when everyone is awake and I can play music (I can only get him to sing when I play showtunes or sometimes when I sing myself). Funny little bird.

[Rox]

Yay, glad it is working out so far! Holding thumbs that everyone stays happy together. He should start singing again once he has settled

[lovezebs]

Musetta

Hi Rachel.
If you want Capuchin to sing, run some water, or download male Canary singing, and let him listen.

~Elana~

[Leo519]

I currently have one canary (male) and a mix of seven finches (Spices, Gouldians, and B&W Mannikins).

He was in a smaller flight cage by himself for couple of years, then I acquired two male Society finches which were together in their own cage for a few months before I decided to try putting them with the canary. I too had heard conflicting info on mixing canaries with finches, and decided to give it a try. The three of them got along great - no issues at all, even in the beginning. Eventually the two Societies passed away, within a month of each other (they were close to seven years old).

The canary continued to do fine by himself and then I got a cage that is a few times larger than his and got the finches I currently have. After a few weeks I moved the canary in with the finches. This time it was not as smooth a transition. At first the canary was pretty cranky with the finches, trying to nip at them, sometimes chasing them around, and bullying them at the food dishes.

I kept a close eye on them for a couple of weeks and was prepared to move the canary back to his own cage, but luckily no serious harm was ever done to the finches, and the finches learned to work around the canary when they needed to. I also added more feeder dishes which helped to alleviate the canary's bullying.

The canary sings his little heart out now, and will often sing when any of the finches sing, drowning out their song with his boisterous tunes!