Lots of canary questions!

[Moppet]

Hi everyone,

I've never owned a bird before,although I have cared for a few for short periods including an African grey (loud,demanding and squawky!) and some collared doves (I did a training project on them at uni and taught one of them to come on command,step up on command and walk in a little circle, they were quite fun but I thought they should have had much more space and felt a bit sorry for them being in captivity). I didn't think I would ever want to own a bird.

However I was in a local pet shop early last week and heard a lovely song...went to see who was producing it and it was a lovely little canary singing away. I just stopped by him for a while listening. I really enjoyed it! Now I can't stop thinking about him. His song was just lovely and even made me laugh as at times he inserted some noises which could have been mimicking the guineapigs wheeking.

So I've been researching canary care, housing requirements etc. However I still have lots of questions.

How much/often does a happy healthy canary sing? How loud is it, e.g if canary is housed upstairs will him singing be audible downstairs? How much mess does a canary make? Do they like to fling seeds out of their cages etc? Do canaries get stressed/bored being caged all the time (I have a dog who really couldn't care less about birds but canaries are so tiny I wouldn't want to risk him getting hurt accidentally!).

Also my house is quite quiet,especially compared to the busy pet shop that he seems to like. Would it upset him? I could maybe put a radio on quietly or something.

Thanks in advance for your help

[Sheather]

I currently have four canaries, 2 males and two females. They're not hard birds to keep, the main thing that sometimes causes issues is their unique dependency on changing day length throughout the year to stay in condition. If they don't keep to a natural light cycle, with short winter days and long summer ones, they won't molt properly and will eventually stop singing - they can even die. You can't let them stay up past sunset, so keep them in a room that's totally dark at night, or cover them like clockwork every evening in the winter. I keep mine in a bird room that gets no supplemental light except for what comes in the windows (or an overhead light on very dreary days). A nightlight is ok, but not a bright room.

A healthy and happy male canary will sing, but it varies with the bird how much. I have one male who sings more or less constantly from before sunup until it's dark, taking a few quiet hours in between. I have another who sings a few times a day, mostly in the morning, and is otherwise fairly quiet. If your bird sings a lot in the store he'll probably continue to do so at home.

I can't hear mine through the floor, but if I leave the door upstairs open, I can hear him at the bottom of those stairs. My one male is very loud, the other who sings less vigorously is quieter. I personally love the loud canaries though.

Canaries do well as caged birds but they really do enjoy coming out to fly and explore. They're very curious birds, and though they're small, mine quickly figured out how to get around the house and not to get into trouble. They don't fly into windows or anything. I let all mine out a few times a week (not at the same time though). Males fight, so I let my males out on different days and my females out separately from either of them, but they're caged together as hens aren't as territorial. They all go back to their cages to sleep.

They can be messy, flick some seeds and shed some feathers, but one bird is hardly going to cause much trouble. I have thirty, and it gets messy, but the canaries are probably the cleanest birds I have. Even their droppings come up very easy and they don't chew anything. Parrots are much worse!

They do like ambient noise, mine have other birds for that, they also like singing along with music or the vacuum cleaner. A radio would be a good idea.

[Sheather]

Some pics of my gang;

Maggie, my crested female, checking out the top of our budgies' cage.



Her brother Joey, my loud and proud songster:





My other male Feathers;



And his mother Melody:



Behind her is Feathers' father, Sebastian, who passed away this past summer.

I also have a dove and he's a lovely character. He loves his bathtime.

[Chihuahua]

Well now I have a question if you don't mind me butting in.. would a light on for just a few minutes at night be a problem for the canary? I keep my birds in my room so it's inevitable that the light comes on occasionally, though I try not to bother the societies too much since it seems to get them a little freaked out.

[Sheather]

I try to avoid any overhead lighting - a small corner lamp for a few minutes doesn't seem to cause trouble, as long as it's not on for long or extending the day length. Just popping a light on quickly after it's been dark and turning it off after a minute or two is fine I think.

[Moppet]

Thank you for such a quick reply Sheather. Your birds are beautiful!

[Dave]

Sheather, that's a good primer on Canaries!

Plus--feed them greens, everyday if you can. Not lettuce, but kale or collards or the like.

Also, an 1/8th of a boiled egg (some yolk, some white, some shell) 3-5 times per week.

And have some mineral mix available for them. Not granite grit, but mineral mix--meaning calcium plus some minor elements.

Canaries are the best !

Dave

[Sheather]

I give mine a lot of greens, yeah, I do give a lot of romaine and leaf lettuce though. They also go wild for broccoli and an occasional apple slice.

[paul-inAZ]

Mine gobble up greens in preference to seed. They'll go through a romaine leaf in no time. Almost any kind of greens. Except~ Iceberg lettuce has no nutritional value so I don't use it. Other leaf lettuce is fine.

[lovezebs]

Chihuahua

Hey Toby,

If you're concerned about lights on at night, throw a light material bed sheet over the cage (the darker the colour, the better).

[artgecko]

I have 1 male and 4 females (housed separately).
My male sings starting at sunup to about 2-4pm in the evening. We have a split level house (2 half-flights of stairs with main level in middle). We had him upstairs for quarantine and could hear him on the main level and now that he is downstairs, we still hear him on the main level.

I think sound volume depends on the breed you get. I believe timbrados are the loudest. My male is a fife and he's pretty loud, but not horribly so. If he is in the same room as you he is definitely loud lol.

They do scatter seed and they will make a horrible mess with bath water... I end up vacuuming around their cages maybe 2x a week. I only give them bath water once a week due to the mess.

I'd say of my birds, my male canary has the most personality and is the most interactive. he will "cheep" at me until I pay attention to him (even stopping when I look at him) and I really enjoy his singing.