Harz Roller

Domestic canary (Serinus canaria forma domestica)

File:Vogelbauer.jpg

Transport birdcace for canaries as used for the Harzer Roller canary breed in the 18th and 19th century.

Harz Roller (German: Harzer Roller [ˈhaɐ̯ʦɐ ˈʁɔlɐ]) is the name of a breed of domestic canary bred in the Upper Harz mountains of Germany. The birds were bred in the Upper Harz between Lautenthal and Sankt Andreasberg in the middle of the 19th century and achieved European-wide fame. Since 2001 there has been a Harz Roller Museum in Sankt Andreasberg.

By patient breeding a breed of canary was able to be produced that had a very pleasant, melodious song, full of variety and delivered with an apparently closed beak.

Miner's canary

The breeding and sale of this popular breed of canary was an important secondary occupation for mining people, as was the making of cages for the birds. In the second half of the 19th century the breeding and sale of these canaries boomed. In contrast to widespread legend, the birds were not used in the mines to indicate the presence of oxygen, they were too valuable. The Harz miners used captured wild birds for that purpose.

See also

• Wilhelm Trute - breeder
• Domestic canary
• Atlantic canary (wild canary)
• Australian plainhead
• Red factor
• Birdcage

External links

• Harz Roller Museum in Sankt Andreasberg
• Western Roller Canary Association