Need breed recomendations...

[artgecko]

Hello guys,
I'm in the process of setting up my first bird cage / group and am planning (tentatively) on having a pair of gouldians along with a single male canary. I will probably be purchasing the male canary first, as I am attending a bird show next weekend and there will be some canary dealers there.

I don't care too much about coloration, bu would like a canary that has a soft song. I don't care for the roller / watersinger type but I also don't want a bird with a very very loud voice. I am not sure if it would be better to go with a breed bred for song or one for type in my situation...It is not a necessity for me that the bird sings a lot (just every once in a while would do) so if type birds sing at all, they may work. Also, if the different breeds tend to have different temperaments, I'm assuming a calmer bird would work better for what I'm planning on doing. Lastly, since I'm new to birds, I'd prefer a hardier breed who will do well given a proper diet and clean living conditions... If there are breeds prone to sickliness, I'd love to know which ones to avoid.

If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. I have read that American singers are a common breed in the US, but don't know what other breeds we tend to get here.

Thank you for your time and help!

[Dave]

I've always liked American Singers. Although, there are a lot of 'fake' American Singers out there. Check out this breed website: http://www.americansingercanary.com/

Also, some of the best birds I've owned have been kitchen canaries. They are birds without any sort of pedigree or breed, just bred by people who put birds together based on whatever judgement they care to use.

Any breeder can have both good and not-so-good birds, and you don't really know what you're getting until some time has passed. Even so, buy from a breeder and not a pet shop. You'll pay half or less, and almost surely will be getting a better canary.

[debbie276]

I had Gloster canaries with my gouldians at one point and they got along great. I found the gloster song to be very pleasant.
If you go to youtube I'm sure you can find short clips of the song to get an idea of what it will sound like.

Good luck, do let us know what you end up with

[artgecko]

Thank you both for the recommendations! I am not sure what they will have available at the show, but do know there are at least two people who specialize in canaries.. They may be dealers or breeders (not sure).

Dave- I don't intend to breed, so I wouldn't mind having a mixed-breed canary as long as it was healthy and fit my criteria, it is good to know that you have had good experiences in the past with them.

Debbie- I will look up Glosters. Thank you for recommending them.

[debbie276]

Here's a pretty good example of their song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1pSH0pGDcM

A little info on them
https://www.beautyofbirds.com/glostercanaries.html

[artgecko]

Thanks!

[GouldianGuy]

artgecko What kind of canary did you end up getting?

[artgecko]

artgecko What kind of canary did you end up getting?

Sorry I didn't see this until now, haven't been online in a while.

My choices were kind of limited by what the breeders at the show had. There were only two breeders there. One had American Singers and the other had Fifes and Timbrados. Because I wasn't sure how i'd handle the noise level, I went with a pair of female American singers. I now want to purchase another pair of females and a male (females to house with the two I have now and the male will be housed separately). I am unsure if I will go with AS, or Fife for the male... but I am really enjoying the AS females, one of them even sings a little bit now and again.

I posted a thread showing photos of the new canaries in this forum (can't find the link at present).