Fun Facts About Canaries

Over the centuries, canaries are a popular bird species among bird enthusiasts. They have attractive yellow feathers, are great singers, and are naturally friendly – which are the very reasons why they are also great to keep as pets.

Who wouldn’t be enticed to keep a pet canary? Your boring days would be gone as soon as you hear them sing. Their harmonious and melodious singing would keep you entertained. Caring for a pet canary would definitely bring you immeasurable joy, unparalleled companionship and lots of satisfaction.

Every bird has some interesting bird facts, including canaries. If you want to know more about canaries, here are some fun facts about them. Perhaps, the following trivia would encourage you more to get one for yourself.

Male Canaries are Better Singers

Though female canaries are also capable of singing (but not that often), male canaries are undoubtedly the better singers. Their hormones, the testosterone, tell them to sing in order for them to attract a female mate. Aside from finding a mate, singing also signifies that a male canary is marking his territory and sometimes, they do sing just for their own pleasure.

If you noticed that your male canary sings less often, it may be that his testosterone level drops which may be due to aging, or during the moulting season. When a canary moults, it loses its feathers and replaces them with new ones. This could last for about six to eight weeks.

If you also place your male canary with a female one, it would also stop singing because he has already found a mate. Remember, he sings for the purpose of attracting a female. He may also stop singing when he sees his reflection in a mirror. He may have mistaken his reflection for a female mate. And last but not the least; your pet wouldn’t care to sing if you placed him inside a dimly lit bird cage.

Canaries Prefer a Big Cage

We have mentioned earlier that canaries don’t sing in a dimly lit bird cage. If you’d be in their shoes, you would not also be in the mood to sing. They’d also feel threatened if the cage’s location is placed in front of a window where they could clearly see their worst predators such as the neighbourhood cat and a diving hawk.

You see, bird cages play an important role in the health of your pet. As for canaries, they want a very big cage since they love to fly. Having a big cage would also keep their health in check because flying is equivalent to exercising. There are types of bird cages which are designed to provide a canary to move freely. A bird cage with a long width is better than a tall and narrow one. That way, your pet would feel that he is flying for over a thousand miles. When building your own aviary, and if you are keeping canaries as pets, you should remember these important points.

They Aren’t Always Yellow

Canaries are known to be birds with yellow feathers only. Perhaps, due to the influence of Tweety Bird, a popular Disney character which is a canary, that yellow tiny bird that continuously evades the attack of a cat. However, canaries are not only confined to the yellow colour. There are also red-orange, pink, white and brownish ones.

Just like the typical bird breeds, today, there are more than 200 breeds of canaries which is why they now come in different colours, sizes, shapes and feathering. But there are basically three major types of canaries which include the colour canary, the song canary and the type canary.

The colour canary is bred for its various colours. This group includes canaries that have orange, copper or red colours. As for the song canary, it is specifically bred for its ability to sing melodious songs such as the roller, American singer, Spanish timbrado and waterslager canaries. On the other hand, the type canary is bred for its size, shape, feathering, and other special characteristics. This group includes the Lancashire, Belgian, crested, gloster fancy, and Yorkshire canaries.

Canaries Eat Jalapeno Peppers

If you have a garden filled with jalapeno peppers, then you’ll be able to save some cash when feeding your pet. Canaries do not hate these spicy treats. In fact, they would be more than willing to eat jalapeno peppers. These are rich in vitamins A and C. Jalapeno peppers also promote a healthy blood circulation and keeps the weight of your pet bird in check.

But of course, in order to keep your pet canary healthy, a good quality seed mixture is a perfect diet for them. You could also offer them greens such as spinach, collard greens, broccoli, cucumbers, squash, etc. They also eat oranges, bananas, apples, corn, strawberries and many more.

Canaries are easy to take care as pets. They are not picky eaters and they don’t produce much noise unlike other birds. Even if you live an apartment, you could have a pet canary with you, as long as you provide them an agreeable environment.

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