Serinus canaria

1 Serinus canaria Breed Overview

The Canary (Serinus canaria) is prized for its beautiful and varied plumage along with its sweet, melodious song, and is currently considered in China one of the noble cage ornamental birds. Wild canaries and caged canaries differ markedly in plumage color.

The Canary is also known as the Furuong bird, Furuong, Baiyu, Baiyu bird, Yubird, and Baiyan; it is a granivorous bird of the finch family. Native to the Canary, Madera, and Azores islands off the northwest coast of Africa, it has 24 varieties in total.

Chinese Name: Canary

Other Names: Furuong bird, Furuong, Baiyu, Baiyu bird, Yubird, Baiyan

Binomial Name: Serinus canaria

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Aves

Order: Passeriformes

Family: Fringillidae

Genus: Serinus

Species: Canary

Distribution: Canary, Madera, and Azores islands off the northwest coast of Africa

2 Physical Characteristics of the Serinus canaria

The ideal adult body length of a canary is about 13 cm. Wild and pet canaries differ in color: wild ones are usually green or olive, while pet canaries are typically a light yellow. There are also canaries in more colors, though these two are the most typical. Canary plumage comes in yellow, white, red, green, and gray-brown; yellow canaries are the most common, the most valuable being white canaries with flesh-colored beaks and legs, followed by white-feathered red-eyed canaries. Newly fledged chicks of both sexes look alike, making it hard to tell males from females. After 2 to 3 months, the male’s vent protrusion is conical, while the female’s is flatter and oval.

3 Serinus canaria Living Environment

The Canary, commonly called the Furuong bird, is a very popular pet bird today. Because canaries like a clean environment, cleaning becomes a daily must for owners. For easy care, the setup should be simple and safe.

When kept at home, the cage must be spacious, ideally a specially made canary cage, because exercise in a roomy cage greatly improves the bird’s disease resistance. Canaries are quite adaptable and can survive as long as the temperature stays relatively stable over time. Some keepers believe canaries can only live normally between 10 and 25 degrees C, which is completely wrong. Experiments in recent years show that, with a temperature swing under 10 degrees C, canaries can stay healthy from minus 5 degrees C to plus 35 degrees C. In Changchun in northeastern China, it is common to see canaries hanging outside the window singing in the snow. What canaries fear most is a sudden temperature change, not sustained low temperatures. Of course, breeding temperature should be between 15 and 25 degrees C with stable conditions, and the daily swing is best kept under 5 degrees C.

Canaries enjoy water baths: give a daily bath in summer and a warm weekly bath in winter, and let the feathers dry before moving the bird outdoors to avoid colds. Common canary illnesses are intestinal and respiratory diseases, mostly caused by unclean water and food or sudden changes in environment; with normal prevention they can be completely avoided. Provide some light in spring, autumn, and winter, because light excites the bird’s nerves and increases appetite, and sunlight promotes bone growth and eggshell formation. In short, canaries are not hard to keep, and with love you can keep them well.

4 Serinus canaria Feeding Guidelines

Canaries are omnivorous, feeding mainly on grains and cereals, and under good conditions can live up to 15 years or more, comparable to the lifespan of a pet dog.

Canaries eat a wide variety of foods, and which feed to give depends on their nutritional needs at the time. The main nutrients a bird needs are protein, carbohydrates, fat, vitamins, and minerals, which are generally obtained from the everyday feeds a canary likes. But during molt and breeding, minerals and vitamins must be supplied separately. A canary’s daily diet is usually grains, dough, a little oilseed, and vegetables. Grains include millet, barnyard grass, and broom corn millet. Oilseeds include perilla, rapeseed, peanuts, and walnuts. These oilseeds are not given normally, only in moderation during the chick stage, molt, and breeding season, which aids reproduction. Canaries especially love sow thistle, which both prevents diarrhea and provides vitamins. If possible, dry fresh sow thistle in summer and autumn for winter use.