Three New Canaries!

[artgecko]

Went to my second bird show and picked up three more canaries from the same breeder my two American Singer females came from.

This time around, we got 2 more females and a male fife. The breeder said that the male sings a lot and she wasn't kidding. He started singing the day after we brought him home. He has a song with a lot of variety and also has a hefty attitude for such a little bird. Whenever we go into the room they are being quarantined in, he loudly "chirps" at us..especially if I have to mess with his cage to change water or food.

My husband came home for lunch today and said he was singing most of the time he was home... I just hate that I won't get to hear him except on weekends and holidays since he sings in the morning and into the early afternoon.

The two females are pretty talkative and active as well.

My plan is to move the two new females in with my two existing ones once quarantine is over and to leave the male caged separately, but in the same room where he can see the girls.

Now for the pics!
First two are the male fife... He would not hold still for pics and is usually rounder looking than he appears in the pics here.



Next four are the females

[lovezebs]

artgecko

Beautiful birds, congratulations !

I really like the looks of your two new girls, very pretty.

Regarding your male and singing, come Spring when the days get longer, he will sing more. Also, if you keep a light on in your birdroom later into the evening, your boy will sing more and later (so that you can enjoy his song).

[GouldianGuy]

My canary used to love competing with the dishwasher!!

[artgecko]

LOL. Thanks guys!
I will see how things go with him... I teach, so I'm home a lot during summer break, so getting to hear him then will be a bonus.

I think my husband is more enamored with him than I am, so that is a good sign. We may even get another male (housed separately) if we feel like we want even more singing in the house. There is another show here in March, so that would probably be when we would get another.

[Babs _Owner]

artgecko

They are just beautiful! There's a glouster here in our pet store and I whine "I want!" to Bill everytime I see him. I've never had canaries, but his crest and confident posture just "wows" me.

I am still trying to resist buying him. Its not easy. The canaries with the dark head are soooo pretty!

[artgecko]

Babs- If you want one, I'd look into finding a breeder or going to a show where a breeder will be vending.. I got mine for only $80 US which is about half the cost that they are in the petshop... The females were only $60 US. We don't have any local bird clubs here, so I was lucky that a breeder was at the show I went to. There were also re-sellers / dealers that had canaries, but those looked like either mutts or birds they got off a breeder and I wanted to know some background on the ones I got, but some of the dealer birds looked pretty.

I didn't expect I'd like canaries as much as I do..They seem to have quite the attitude and are more interactive than my budgies or the finches I've seen.. Mine fuss at me if I'm slow in feeding them (will loudly chirp while I am getting their food ready or if I stop and do something else) then they will be silent once they have what they want. I never thought I'd find such strong personalities in birds, so this was a great surprise and one of the main reasons we wanted more of them. My English show budgies, by comparison, have little personality and don't interact with us much (they were aviary-raised though, so that's probably why).

[Babs _Owner]

artgecko

Oh nice!! They sound like a ton of fun! I wish I could, but I wont be adding anymore species at this time until I research. Sighhhhhhh. It will be a while until I am ready.

[Sally]

artgecko I babysat a canary for a month recently. I was surprised at how calm he was. I'm so used to waxbills, and they never seem to calm down. It was nice to be able to approach a cage and not have the birds inside freak out. He would cock his head and look at me when I talked to him, like he was really listening. Hmmm, I may be tempted.

[Sheather]

I find it so funny how people always say canaries are so tame!
Mine aren't. I even handfed two of my three out and they're not the least bit tame.

I have societies that will eat out of my hand, and most of my budgies will, but even these hand-fed canaries won't do so.

I assume different lines have different temperaments. I had a quite tame female at one time.

[artgecko]

Sally- Mine seem pretty calm also... They are used to being close to people I think (small cages at the breeders' maybe?). That said, they still show nervousness when I put my hands in the cage to change out food dishes and stuff, but even then, they just move to the other end of the cage. I'd say the male seems "offended" when I go in his cage as he never fails to start fussing at me (by "meeping" loudly directly at me). They are interactive though... When I talk to them, all but one will answer and chirp back.

Sheather- They won't let me touch / hold them or hand feed them for sure. I have some English show budgies that are not tame at all... They came from a breeder that keeps his in an aviary outdoors all year round and they are literally terrified of me. If my hands get anywhere near their end of the cage they will freak out. I'm also having a dreadful time getting them to eat anything other than seed (I think they are afraid of new foods lol). I am hoping to get another pair from a breeder that handles his, which will hopefully help calm the other two down.

[artgecko]

I finally managed to video the male singing. I am hoping this link will work, but am not sure (it works on FB). He won't sing with us in the room yet, which is why the pic is from so far away. The breeder we got him from also works with Timbrados and American Singers, so I wonder if that influenced his song.

Link to video