Canaries vs. Finches

[paul-inAZ]

A little canary humor.
I was in a bird store yesterday and they had quite a number of nice looking [and grossly overpriced] canaries. The clerk said they are becoming more popular.

He said that the crested birds are specially trendy right now and attributed this to Donald Trump's run for president.

[mohum]

I have two canaries in with my finches and they are so friendly that I am considering bringing them indoors. I don't know the sexes but they don't seem to be paired up although one sings more than the other. Billy is green and Rusty is orange(the finches don't have names). I had separate food but have started mixing it together as they all eat both. They are always the first at the vegetables.

[lovezebs]

paul-inAZ

Got a good chuckle over the crested Canaries.
I did make reference to the D Trump hairdo in one if my posts about one of my Canaries.....

Here's the picture that I posted with it.....

[Nipper06]

Eng.W0LF you mentioned that canaries are sensitive to light. I put a full spectrum light over my canary's cage because the natural daylight is limited in the room - but I only have it on for 12 hours - is that OK? The light is on a timer. I think he likes the light. I have 3 parakeets in adjacent cages and they have lights on the same timer.

[paul-inAZ]

Ron: for whatever its worth, my canaries get good morning light and I have a daylight balanced fluorescent atop the flight cage that comes on in mid afternoon until around 8PM. Total fairly bright light is 13-14 hours right now. They do get whatever ambient light I use in the room for another hour or two but they seem to ignore that and bed down when the flourescent shuts off.

Whatever it is, they seem to like it. The American Singer pair is nesting on 4 eggs right now, having started by laying one in a food dish. Laying in mid-winter surprised me. The "wrong" time of year?

The evening lighting was originally for my viewing benefit. Laying eggs was a bonus.

[Nipper06]

paul-inAZ It sounds like your lighting is similar to mine except mine goes on around 7 a.m. in morning and goes out around 8 p.m. But the overall lighting is about 13 hours. I'll just stick with that because he seems happy with it and sings a lot. I am not attempting any canary breeding yet.

[Eng.W0LF]

Eng.W0LF you mentioned that canaries are sensitive to light. I put a full spectrum light over my canary's cage because the natural daylight is limited in the room - but I only have it on for 12 hours - is that OK? The light is on a timer. I think he likes the light. I have 3 parakeets in adjacent cages and they have lights on the same timer.

sorry for the late reply,
it's ok if you don't want to breed them during the next few weeks,
what i meant is that we should be careful about the sudden changes to the light duration that can trigger unnecessary molting.

[Jayden]

I am a new Canary owner. After having finches for 40+ years, I finally bought a canary last month. I am finding it an interesting bird!

My new canary, "Tweety", is an American Singer - it is a common variety in the U.S., which was originally developed in the 1930s by 8 women canary fanciers in Massachusetts, who crossed the German Roller and the English Border Fancy. See: http://www.upatsix.com/asc/about.htm.

In terms of behavior (vs. finches), my canary is very "domesticated" and not at all fearful. He started singing the day after I brought him home. He is also very observant. If I drop a hemp seed in his cage, he is "on it" in 2 seconds! And he likes hard-boiled egg so much that I had him grabbing it from my fingers, through the cage bars, in 1 day. And now I have him taking pieces of egg from my open palm, holding my hand in the cage. I hope to finger tame him eventually - without needing food - but if this is as far as we get, I'm OK with that.

One difference from finches, it that canaries seem to be more "OK" with being caged alone. In fact, 2 males may fight, But obviously, several canaries (5 or more) in a large cage or flight seems to work out, as long as there's no breeding. I have mine in his own cage but he is in the same room as my 2 Bourkes and 1 Budgie - so he's got birdy company - and they all seem very interested in each other!

Anyway, I am fascinated by this "new" bird (for me) and I am reading up on them and all their colors and breeds. Lots of interesting reading on canaries! Canaries seem to have fallen out of popularity in recent years but it seems like new American immigrants, especially from Latin America and the Middle East, are reviving the canary hobby here.

So, here's "Tweety"...
[ [url=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b353/mesangeai/Animal%20Photos/P1210761_zpsaqifmani.jpg] ][/url]

I really like this color too. It's called "Red Bronze" - it could be my next canary!
[ [url=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b353/mesangeai/Animal%20Photos/Red%20Bronze%20Canary_zpsx8iymiyr.jpg] ][/url]

I got to see a pair of red bronze canaries a couple of days ago. They are stunning.

[Dave]

The number of hours of light is critical for canaries. They have to have seasonal day length changes that correspond to natural day length.

Winter = 10 hours of light and no more. That includes artificial light. Gradually increase to 14 to 16 hours of light by May or June. Then after July 1 start gradually decreasing light so that by later October you're back to 10 hours. This is roughly a 15 minute change each week.

Males sing from October until June. Female canaries will make a nest and be ready for breeding at about 13 or 13.5 hours of light. After July 1, as the days start to get shorter, Canaries start their molt.

If Canaries don't get these day length changes, their hormones get messed up and they live short lives. Also, the males don't sing well (if at all) without seasonal day length changes.