Sexing a canary by looking at eyes?

[CaliKiwi]

I just finished reading a book called "Brats in Feathers" by Robirda McDonald, and she has a section on finger taming canaries. She mentions that while canaries can never be held and interacted with like you can with hookbills, you can never-the-less train them to land on your finger, eat from your hand, and overall not be afraid of your presence. This is something I'd be really keen on teaching my future canary (with a lot of time and patience!).

However, the author mentioned that you're most likely to be able to tame a canary in this way if they are under 6 months of age. The problem is, I have heard you cannot accurately sex a canary until they are at least 9 months old. While I would be happy with a female canary, I would prefer to try to get a singing male since this will be my only bird.

I looked into "supposed" sexing techniques, and one that stuck out was to look at the eyes:


My question is, how accurate do you think this is? Do your female and male canaries tend to conform to this guideline?

[Stuart whiting]

CaliKiwi

Absolutely nothing wrong with trying but my onest opinion is that it's simply not a reliable way of sexing,

Simple way of explaining this would be if I gave you a bird in a cage, could you tell whether it's a cock or hen just by looking at the eye,

In fairness very few people could answer that

Young cocks start to sing from around 5-6 weeks of age onwards,

Adult birds can normally quiet easily be sexed prior to the breeding season as the birds come into breeding condition, just simply hold the bird in hand and blow on the chest feathers so they lightly part on the chest to expose some of the skin around towards the vent and all should be revealed in wheather it's a cock or hen

[CaliKiwi]

Stuart whiting Thank you very much for all of your help! The local pet store said they don't sex until 9 months. Perhaps I'll have better luck with a breeder (for a lot of reasons it seems!).

[Stuart whiting]

CaliKiwi

Absolutely mate, I totally agree, I'd never buy birds from a pet shop,

Half the time the majority of the staff haven't got a clue about the birds and secondly a lot of the birds there are what other breeders can't breed with, birds to old, baron etc,

You'd definitely do far better going to a breeder if you can

[Sheather]

In my experience there isn't a regular difference in the position of the eye in canaries - my three all have the same proportions as one another.

On the subject of hand-taming, I have found it difficult. I hand-fed a clutch of five canaries this April from day one of hatching, as their mother didn't feed them. The babies didn't meet their parents until they had learned to fly, but even though they literally grew up thinking I was their mother, they progressively became wild, some starting to fear being touched within the first two weeks of weaning. One baby stayed finger-tame and very friendly through the start of summer before one day he too began to act a little weary, and rapidly regressed. This canary will still land on my arm if I am very still and hold a treat he really, really wants in my hand, but he will not step up like he did when younger and he fears a hand in his cage during cleaning as much as his mother, who wasn't hand-fed. I continue working with him, trying to get some trust back, and am finding he is calming down a little again. But I doubt he will ever be fully tame and trusting again.

Given my experience with hand-fed, imprinted babies, I think it must be even harder to tame canaries that were raised by their parents - although, I do have two society finches which will come to and perch on my hand if I have something tasty to eat, like lettuce, millet, or a bit of egg, one of which has even let me pet him on the cheek a couple of times. These finches were parent-raised, but they were handled a lot as babies and socialized. Even so, they didn't become as tame as they are until they were adults, and a pet shop bought finch added to the group recently has so far not been brave enough to follow their lead, though I suspect she may in time, as society finches are very social and like to copy one another.

[lovezebs]

CaliKiwi

I have never honestly heared of the 'eye thing', but then there is lot's that I haven't heared yet, lol.

The best way I've found, is to sex them when they start singing. The little boys will start to warble at a very young age. Although there are some girls who will sing, the majority do not.

I would recommend getting your Canary from a breeder, who knows their birds.

As for hand taming....
You have a long road ahead of you.
Not saying that it can't be done, but it will certainly not be easy.
Generally speaking, Canaries and Finches, are not really taming, cuddling material.

If you are really interested in hand taming and really having a close, hands on relationship, have you considered any of the Hookbill family members?

[CaliKiwi]

lovezebs

Thank you for the info! I have considered getting a small hookbill, but decided that I wouldn't have the time to devote to them that they require. I'm not expecting a hands on, cuddly pet from a canary, my hope was just that they wouldn't fear my presence (like when I put food in the cage) and maybe, maybe land on my finger or hand if I have a food lure (no touching of course). Especially since I expect to allow the canary a lot of free flight time, sharing a 1-room place with me, it would be good if they weren't panicky around human presence.

[lovezebs]

CaliKiwi

That then should not be a problem.

Canaries, will get used to you and to the sound of your voice. Mine respond by cocking their heads from side to side when I talk to them. They also seem to enjoy my poor attempts at whistling (no accounting for taste, lol. I think they're just being polite and humoring me, showing me later how it should sound ).

I have one little girl, Pokey, (who was always a little challanged), who will land on my head or arms when I'm cleaning the flight. The rest of the family however will sit on their perches, swings, or in the greenery, watching me calmly as I go about the daily routine.

If you don't attempt to capture your bird too frequently, it will come to trust you more readily. I have found, that usually after I have to catch them (for nail trims, flight transfer, or what not), they will be more nervous and mistrustful of my big human hands for a period of time.

With time and patience (and spray millet treats), I think you will find that your bird will become quite calm and friendly towards you.

Good luck, and let us know how it turns out.

[Dave]

Canaries can get used to you, though. The best results I've had:

A single male bird was kept in a cage in the kitchen. The cage was on a table, and had a small lamp right near it. In the morning, I'd turn on the small lamp. The cage area was the brightest area in the room.

I'd open the door and let the bird fly free. Then I'd just sit at the table and eat my breakfast. He'd fly around the room, checking out the fridge top and some counter tops. Usually, a few minutes later, he'd fly to the table and hop around, eating toast crumbs. He'd bounce around just a few inches from me. Ignoring me, but seemed happy to be in the lighted area and eating toast.

When he was ready, he'd just hop back into the cage and I'd close the door. I think the key to the whole system was the light near the cage, and that I didn't make any quick moves.

[Maleficum]

This was one of my first canaries. She always preferred to be with me instead of with the other canaries I had at the time. As soon as you opened a book she was there jumping around on the pages I didn't do anything to make her tame, she chose it her self.

[terriergal]

I just got a male opal yellow canary, he's gorgeous, have had him about a week. But i have yet to hear him sing. He sounds like a female so far. He chatters a lot though, it reminds me of a 'singing' female fife I had a few years ago (though she sang more than I've heard from him yet). I sure hope he's not a girl. Sigh. I haven't taken him out to do the index card thing here, but it looks like the eyes are just above where the line would be, like the diagram in the first post. And as I don't think he's in breeding condition now it would be difficult to tell from the vent. (not that I'm any expert!)

Incidentally I also have a white breast black head gouldian male that I have yet to hear sing. By the brightness of his yellow tummy he must be male, but all he does all day long is that double "CHEEP CHEEP" excited call for other gouldians (which I don't have just yet), same call you hear from an excited female when the male dances for her. Maybe if he has a gouldian buddy he will sing more. I remember when raising them the younger males would sit and peer closely and intently at the older males singing as if they were trying very hard to learn the song.

[terriergal]

ok my gouldie boy is singing but still nothing from the male canary. In fact today he started acting like a begging hen when I started to play canary song.