Bird Carer

They stand out for their beauty, their song and their pleasant and jovial character. Along with the parakeet, they are the most common birds that are usually kept as pets.

Coming from the Canary Islands, from which they get their name, they are also great inhabitants of the Madeira Islands and the Azores. If you want to have a bird as a pet, pay attention because we are going to tell you everything you need to know about how to care for a canary.

The canaries brighten the houses with their songs. These quiet little birds do not need great care to enjoy a long life by your side, although it is very important that they are happy.

A canary that lives in a quiet home quickly gets used to living with humans, interacting docilely with its owners. A lifetime of proper care will allow your canary to perfectly exceed 10 years of age.

Characteristics of canaries

These cheerful little birds are quite small, in fact they do not usually exceed 10 or 12 centimeters in height. They are birds belonging to the Fringillidae family, colloquially known as finches.

There are many varieties of canaries, which are classified according to their color and type of song. Although the best known color is yellow, there are also specimens of other colors, such as white, red or bronze, which are obtained through crosses.

Despite their jovial character, canaries are usually very shy birds. Their cousins, the parakeets, have no problem walking around the house perched on your shoulder, but canaries are much more reluctant to make physical contact with humans.

For this reason, canaries are not the best pets for children. Their calm nature makes them stress a lot with noises. However, they are ideal for beginning owners who respect the privacy of their cage and provide them with the calm and tranquility that they like.

The character of the canary is calm and it likes the intimacy of its cage, from which it manifests itself terribly territorial, that is why it is not very convenient to force coexistence, since fights for supremacy can arise between them.

Although they may look identical, the female and male canaries are easily distinguishable. The male canary has a more pleasant voice and his song repertoire is much broader than that of his female partner. However, both stop singing during the moulting season.

What types of canaries are there?

In a generic way, we all think of a small yellow bird when we are told about canaries, but the truth is that there are different breeds of canaries that are classified according to very different aspects, in addition to their color or song:

– Canaries of form. Its classification takes into account the differences in the shape and size of each specimen with regard to its body structure or plumage.

– Color canaries. Depending on the tonality of their color they are sub-classified into two groups, melanic canaries and lipochromic canaries.

– Singing canaries. The quality of their singing makes them different from others. This type of canaries are divided into three breeds of canaries depending on the emphasis of their song:

The harzer or roller canary. Coming from Germany, this breed of canary sings hollowly with an abundance of syllables joined with the repetition of the “R”.

The waterslager or malinois canary. Originally from Belgium, this type of canary is characterized by a deep and slow song, but very clear.

The ringed canary Our Spanish representative. His song is rhythmic and cheerful, emitting a sound similar to that of bells.

American singing canary. His name indicates that he is from the United States. They are highly prized not only for their varied and melodic song, but also for their excellent health and robust appearance. They are quite attractive looking.

Russian singing canary. It is the least popular among all the popular ones. However, the popularity of this breed begins to be increasingly growing in recent decades. The reason is not only in its beauty, but also in showing qualities quite similar to the German.

How many years does a canary live?

Properly cared for and in a comfortable and quiet home, canaries can live between 10 and 15 years.

What do canaries eat?

A complete care of a canary requires paying close attention to its diet. The plumage, the desire to sing and the health of these unique pets depend directly on you offering them a type of food that is appropriate to their characteristics, balanced and complete.

The mixture for canaries is made from a mixture of grains especially indicated to provide your winged pet with a healthy and balanced diet as it contains flax, lettuce and grass seeds or Niger seeds.

Bird food supplements

In addition to mixtures, fruit and vegetables, canaries must have at their disposal an extra supply of calcium and a food supplement.

It is highly recommended that they always have a cuttlefish bone, in addition to a food supplement such as grit for birds, which promotes digestion by helping the gastroliths in their stomach to crush the seeds.

Care of a canary

Although a canary is a shy animal, they are birds that cannot stand being alone, so too much time alone can make them sick.

Canaries are very intelligent birds, so be patient and help them overcome your shyness by teaching them a tune to imitate or playing with them. Canaries get bored relatively easily, so it’s good that you provide them with some kind of distraction.

In the same way, the canary is a type of bird that is very concerned about its hygiene and that likes to have a small container with warm water for its hygiene. In addition, it is convenient to cut the canary’s nails with some frequency so that it can move and not trip over its own claws or suffer deformations or injuries.

Like the nails, the canary’s beak also requires special care. In some canaries, the upper beak becomes longer and makes feeding more difficult.

If you don’t know how to take care of your canary’s beak or nails, or if you feel a little hesitant, let a veterinarian do it and teach you how to do it correctly.

Although canaries are animals that are relatively resistant to temperatures, it is best to place their cage protected from drafts or air conditioners, in addition to avoiding direct contact with sunlight.

At night, cover your canary’s cage so it gets used to the life cycles of day and night. The rhythms of light and dark are very important to them.

The molt of the canary

There is a very special stage for canaries, which is the moulting season. This phase usually happens at the end of summer and while it happens it is very important not to disturb the canary’s calm with changes in temperature, humidity, lighting or extreme environmental conditions.

Canaries need peace, quiet, and stability to be happy in their cages and shed their feathers properly. That is why it is very important to keep its cage disinfected and place it in a quiet space.

Most common diseases in canaries

As you may have already guessed, canaries are very delicate animals. That is why detecting a disease in your canary in time can save its life. For canaries, changes in temperature or lack of hygiene can be fatal elements for their health.

The most common diseases of canaries are:

Chicken pox

It is known as canarypox, or diphtheropox, and is deadly. If you want, you can prevent this pathology by vaccinating your canary. It is the best option, because there is no cure for this disease.

With avian pox, the canary’s beak and feet become infested with the pox and the bird will have difficulty breathing.

bad laying

Or egg retention. It occurs in females when one of the eggs gets stuck in the uterus or in the cloaca. The female canary will be very weak and tired, as well as swollen.

It is convenient to go quickly to the veterinarian, since this pathology can cause the death of the animal.

Acariasis

Mites can attack different parts of the canary’s body, manifesting themselves in different ways.

In the case of infesting the lungs, they cause respiratory sounds, while if they occur in the plumage they are easily detectable and will make your canary continuously clean itself.

Acariasis is a disease easily contracted by canaries and a clear symptom of incorrect and insufficient care. Bird antibiotics

Cages for canaries

The character of the canary makes it feel safe in its cage, so being where it will spend its entire life, it is best to buy a cage for canaries as large as possible.

Canaries need room to fly. It depends on it that they maintain a good state of health. More important than the height is the horizontal space to favor its small projections and that the space between the bars is not greater than 12 mm.

So that your canary is distracted and stops playing sports, place several toys for the canary cage with which it can entertain itself and you will prevent it from having strange behaviors.

Buy accessories for canaries online, taking special care not to hinder their flight.

A perfect accessory for canaries are wooden perches. You can place several support points for your parakeet of different shapes and sizes so that it can exercise and avoid suffering joint atrophy. Bird Antibiotics