FINCHforum

Will the green singers song get better as he gets more mature or do some of them just sound a little squeaky?

A lady I met in a pet store told me green singers sound better than a canary. I personally like the song of my canary better. Oh , but I love my little green singer!!

Another post here just mentioned that they can take up to a year to fully perfect their song! Maybe you can play a tape of a canary singing. (My grandmother did that, to teach her canary to sing.) Could probably find something online.

Your's is probably just young. They do sound beautiful when they really belt it out!

Once your green singer matures he will certainly sing a nice sustained canary like song providing that he is a male of course. They do take time to mature and perfect there song and will also be influenced by your canary as he will have no other Green Singers to be tutored by. There song is more natural and fluid than a Canarys and of course softer in volume.

I personally find that the Canary sounds a little artificial but ultimately its the greatest of singing finches. However the small agile body and butterfly flight of the Green Singer give it the edge for me and I find them far more pleasing to keep.

all agree with Ian ...

Ray

whats a green singer?

Total Finch wrote:whats a green singer?

We talk about this bird.

I find my male Green Singer Finches song not so pleasant. He will sing than she screeches at him. They go back and forth like this for a long time. Sometimes he chases her around while they screech at each other. I am thinking about buying a Canary tape for them.
Leda

In my experience the Green Singers song can differ quite markedly. A natural variation occurs between the geographical subspecies which is analogous to a human having an accent depending on where he was raised during childhood. My first pair had just an average song (when I say pair - I am referring to the male of the pair) while the two new pairs I aquired after were far superior in structure and include a lovely wren like warble (stronger in one). It has occured to me that domestic bred Green Singing finches that have been raised in isolation or those that have suffered the death of the male parent will not have learned a full song and like canarys will not develop there full potential (may even mimic a non related species). This has probably had quite an impact on the domestic population and possibly more notable with those chicks that have been raised from a single pair. A good canary will in my opinion double as a strong singing alpha male of the same species and provided there is one present and singing whilst the bird is young (small window) will provide the neccessary vocal tuition for the full development of the chick.

I think there is a very strong possibility that most domestic breds have a poorly developed song that does nothing for the species and possibly reduces there vocal appeal to the potential enthusiast.

Even with several pairs I am very tempted to include a `good` canary to my setup to foster better singing results from the chicks. I would be very interested in anybody elses opinion/ experience of the song diversity and strength amongst this species (especially domestic) and if they would agree with having a trained canary in the vicinity?

the young green singers will for sure take over the canary singing , i would buy like an *old* green singer so they can learn / hear how it should be .

ray

Ian did you say that there is only a small window for my male Green singer to learn a new song? Do you suppose its to late for him?

i had a green singer for a week i loved him to death but i had to take him back cuz his song gave my migraines. they last few days we had him i did not step out of my room till after dark

Leda wrote:Ian did you say that there is only a small window for my male Green singer to learn a new song? Do you suppose its to late for him?

Hi Leda,

I am not confident on the exact window of opportunity but it is very similar to canarys (and most songbirds) in that there is a `sensitive`period when they are developing. Once the neural pathways are laid down its pretty much fixed. Its certainly wihin the first 12 months of development. Its currently the subject of much debate and research and the impact can be quite significant. I saw a Green Singer on youtube which sings like a goldfinch (probably fostered or bought up in isolation with goldfinches), while this may sound quite delighful however it can have major implications on breeding success as female Green Singers are only `turned on` by a `Green Singer` song. Canarys that are being hybridised with other species have to have a normal male canary in close proximity (but separate cage) so that there song switches on the female and makes her receptive.

As stated though there is still a lot of research going on and most birds will learn to sing something similar to there own species if they are not tutored by a same species adult or influenced by another songbird. However the difference between a normal song and a great song lies in early tutoring and my guess is that a lot of adult singers (including domestic breds I have heard) are quite a bit below there full potential as a result of impaired development.

But there is also probably a genetic contribution and a good songster is genetically blessed with superior singing ability of which he advertises with his song. The females are then attracted to the male with the best song etc etc.

So in short domestic bred birds must be within earshot of a good singer to develop to `there` full potential and regardless of genetics if this has not been the case they will be below average singers and once this window has passed the plasticity of the brain is reduced and thus the song fixed.

One thing to note however is the song does become more structured and longer when the male is in breeding condition and shorter during the off season.

Sorry for the rambling and hope some of this helps.