Domestic canary

This article is about the pet variety of the bird. For the wild bird that inhabits islands off western Europe, see Atlantic canary.

Domestic canary
a Red factor canary
Conservation status
Domesticated
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Fringillidae
Genus:	Serinus
Species:	S. canaria
Subspecies:	S. c. domestica
Trinomial name
Serinus canaria domestica (Linnaeus, 1758)

The Domestic canary, often simply known as the canary, (Serinus canaria forma domestica) is a domesticated form of the wild canary, a small songbird in the finch family originating from the Macaronesian Islands (Azores, Madeira and Canary Islands).

Canaries were first bred in captivity in the 17th century. They were brought over by Spanish sailors to Europe. This bird became expensive and fashionable to breeding in courts of Spanish and English kings. Monks started breeding them and only sold the males (which sing). This kept the birds in short supply and drove the price up. Eventually Italians obtained hens and were able to breed the birds themselves. This made them very popular and resulted in many breeds arising and the birds being bred all over Europe.

The same occurred in England. First the birds were only owned by the rich but eventually the local citizens started to breed them and, again, they became very popular. Many breeds arose through selective breeding, and they are still very popular today for their voice.

Etymology

The birds are named after Spain's Canary Islands, which derive their name from the Latin Insula Canaria (after one of the larger islands, Gran Canaria), meaning "island of dogs", due to its "vast multitudes of dogs of very large size".

A white canary nesting

Varieties

Canaries are generally divided into three main groups:

• Colorbred canaries (bred for their many colour mutations - ino, eumo, satinette, bronze, ivory, onyx, mosaic, brown and red factor etc.)
• Type canaries (bred for their shape and conformation - Australian Plainhead, Berner, Border, Fife, Gibber Italicus, Gloster, Lancashire, Raza Española, Yorkshire, etc.)
• Song canaries (bred for their unique and specific song patterns - Spanish Timbrado, German Roller (also known as Harz Roller), Waterslager (also known as "Malinois"), American Singer, Russian Singer, Persian Singer).

While wild canaries are a yellowish-green colour, domestic canaries have been selectively bred for a wide variety of colours, such as yellow, orange, brown, black, white, and red. (The colour red was introduced to the domesticated canary through hybridisation with the red siskin, a type of South American finch.)

Competitions

Canaries are judged in competitions following the annual molt in the summer. This means that in the Northern Hemisphere the show season generally begins in October or November and runs through December or January. Birds can only be shown by the person who raised them. A show bird must have a unique band on its leg indicating the year of birth, the band number, and the club to which the breeder belongs.

There are many canary shows all over the world. The world show (C.O.M.) is held in Europe each year and attracts thousands of breeders. As many as 20,000 birds are brought together for this competition.

Miner's canary

Canaries were once regularly used in coal mining as an early warning system. Toxic gases such as carbon monoxide, methane or carbon dioxide in the mine would kill the bird before affecting the miners. Signs of distress from the bird indicated to the miners that conditions were unsafe. The use of miners' canaries in British mines was phased out in 1987.

The phrase "canary in a coal mine" is frequently used to refer to a person or thing which serves as an early warning of a coming crisis. By analogy, the term climate canary is used to refer to a species that is affected by an environmental danger prior to other species, thus serving as an early warning system for the other species with regard to the danger. (See indicator species.)

Use in research

Canaries have been extensively used in research to study neurogenesis, or the birth of new neurons in the adult brain, and also for basic research in order to understand how songbirds encode and produce song. Thus, canaries have served as model species for discovering how the vertebrate brain learns, consolidates memories, and recalls coordinated motor movements.

Fernando Nottebohm, a professor at the Rockefeller University in New York City, New York, detailed the brain structures and pathways that are involved in the production of bird song.

Trivia

• Canaries have been depicted in cartoons from the mid-20th century as being harassed by domestic cats; the most famous cartoon canary is Warner Brothers' "Tweety Bird".
• Norwich City, an English football team, is nicknamed "The Canaries" due to the city once being a famous centre for breeding and export of the birds. The club adopted the colours of yellow and green in homage. Jacob Mackley, of Norwich, won many prizes with birds of the local variety and shipped about 10,000 Norwich to New York every year. In the early 1900s, he opened his aviaries to the public for three days and 10,000 people turned up.
• Koper, a Slovenian football team are nicknamed "The Canaries" (Kanarčki).
• FC Novi Sad, a Serbian football team from Novi Sad are also nicknamed after the birds, due to their home kits being completely yellow.
• Fenerbahçe, a Turkish football team, is nicknamed Sarı Kanaryalar (Turkish for "Yellow Canaries").

See also

• Atlantic canary (wild canary)
• Australian plainhead
• Harz Roller
• Red Factor
• British finches
• Birdcage
• John Scott Haldane

Further reading

• McDonald, Robirda, Brats in Feathers, Keeping Canaries ISBN 0-9730434-4-X
• Miley-Russell, Marie, The Practical Canary Handbook, A Guide to Breeding and Keeping Canaries. ISBN 1-59113-851-5. Especially useful to American Singer canary owners.
• Linda Hogan, Canary Tales
• GB Walker, Colour, Type, and Song Canaries
• David Alderton, Birds Care, You and your pet bird
• Author unknown, The Canary Handbook, Canaries, Barrons
• Tim Hawcroft, Health Care for Birds
• James Blake, Fife Canaries

External links

• The Canary FAQ
• The Rockefeller University
• Canary Sound

Domestic canary at DMOZ