FINCHforum

I'm new to Canaries but I've noticed a lot of people keep them as single birds. Is this to encourage singing? If you don't care about the singing, is it possible to keep a male / female pair together permanently or will they fight?

Canaries, especially those closestly related to the wild type (timbrados, german rollers, russian singers, etc), are solitary birds and do not naturally live in flocks or pairs outside of the breeding season. Males will almost definitely fight, and male/hen, hen/hen pairs will often squabble, but not to the point of killing each other. A few years back, a large bird fighting ring was broken up in the state of Connecticut, and it did not involve roosters - only male canaries!
Modern canary crosses, (particularly those involving the red factor) are a bit more social as they have been crossed with siskin finches - a bird that does live in colonies.
Male canaries are quite content to live alone but several hens can be housed together, provided enough space is available to avoid competition. Male/hen can work together in a big enough cage, but if you plan to breed, it is better to keep them separate in the "off" season. They show more vigor and determination to breed if separated for a few months. And yes, the males will sing more if kept away from the hen. Hope this helps. Bob

The standard method is to separate males from hens for two main reasons 1- males will sing better and earlier if alone and 2 it will help with breeding as a male will come into season earlier than a hen who can harass her too much. But to answer your question yes pairs can be kept together year round with very minimal problems and this is usually squabbling over food or perch spots. I do keep some pairs together year round but these pairs are in a large flight of an outdoor aviery smaller breeding cabinets can have more arguments between pairs so if you decide to keep them paired just keep an eye out for aggression.

Thanks for the info. So it sounds like a single canary will be fine, caged alone, especially if I have lots of other birds in the same room for company.

My Waterslager hen is a terror! I wouldn't dare put her in a cage with a cock outside of breeding season.

She nearly maimed a poor cock her previous owners tried pairing her off to. They said she matured a lot quicker than her siblings so they thought they would give it a shot just before she turned one year old, and man did they regret it...

I saw the poor cock a few days after the alleged assault, and his eye did not look cute.

I got a good deal on her because of the aforementioned incident. They warned me not to try pairing her off outside of breeding season though, not that they needed to...

I was certain of how feisty she was when she bit down hard and repeatedly on her prior owner's hand in front of me, and trust she bites me just as hard if ever I have to handle her.

Love her to pieces, but I think it's worth noting that some canaries have personalities that are a lot bigger than people expect from such a cute and tiny package. I probably should have named her Mariah instead because she is a fierce diva!