Canaries not singing

Although they are technically passerines, canaries tend to be managed uniquely, so here is a forum just for them!
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finchescb
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Canaries not singing

Post by finchescb » Mon Apr 08, 2019 8:36 pm

I had a pair of red canaries but the male canary died a few weeks ago. I went to buy another male but ended up getting three canaries! I wanted to get two male canaries (one to go with the female I have) and one female (so I could have another pair). I got them all on March 30th but I haven’t heard any singing yet. I just hear the chirping. I have a canary song CD that I tried using but they all just get excited and come to the edge of the cage. I put in nests and one of the new canaries has been playing around a bit with the nesting material. I’m worried I ended up with three girls. Is there a normal time period that the males don’t sing while they’re settling in to their new home? They all appear healthy and I don’t see any signs of mites or respiratory illness. I know two of the birds are younger so that might be the reason? The other one which I was told was a male is an adult and I don’t think is molting. Any help is appreciated.

wildbird
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Re: Canaries not singing

Post by wildbird » Mon Apr 08, 2019 10:48 pm

I don't know about canaries, but in Javas, if it chirps, it is a female. If you hear one sing, then you know it's a male. The best way to buy is to see it sing.

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Rob
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Re: Canaries not singing

Post by Rob » Mon Apr 15, 2019 1:46 pm

If you're comfortable catching them, you can blow on their vents to see if they're male or female. Given that it's breeding season it's the best time to check. If they're out of season, based on where they came from, that could also explain why they're not singing. A healthy male should sing right away, but might be shy. If you don't hear any singing throughout the day, there's a change you have all females but you could just have a shy male. I'd separate him, and see if he sings when alone.

I've had females that sing as well, so it can be tough to tell.

Dave
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Re: Canaries not singing

Post by Dave » Wed Apr 17, 2019 10:35 am

My guess is that the Canaries came from a place that didn't use changing natural seasons. If Canaries don't see the change of seasons, the males don't sing and the birds die early due to hormonal problems.

Male canaries sing under these conditions.
1. They start singing in October (usually) when the day length is less than 12 hours long. 'Day length' means the number of hours that the birds see light. (in the Northern hemisphere. It is the opposite in the Southern hemisphere. Where are you?)

2. They continue to sing as the day length shortens through December.

3. In the spring, when the day length increases, they sing more and more. The hens get active about nesting when the day length is more than 12 hours long. (some Canaries even earlier).

4. Increased warmth and better quality food (more protein) also bring the hens into breeding condition.

5. Canaries get serious about breeding at about 13 hours of day length. My strain usually has fertile eggs at about 13.5 hours. The males should be singing all this time, since October.

6. As the day length starts to decrease, in July, the males stop singing. Both genders molt in late summer. Males start singing again in October.
Dave

Campbellsville, Kentucky, USA
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finchescb
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Re: Canaries not singing

Post by finchescb » Tue Jul 02, 2019 3:55 pm

wildbird, Rob, Dave
Thank you all for your help! The seller let me trade them out and I got two other young ones which have been singing a lot. So, I think I ended up with two males and two females! I’ll know next breeding season. Thank you for the information though! It was very helpful.

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