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ISSN 1492-8132
Issue 128, © 2005
No reprints without permission
Sponsor's Space
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The folks at Bird & Cage have made it their goal to provide bird keepers with a great selection of good quality cages and birdcage accessories for great prices, along with some of the best customer service you will find anywhere. One of their newer cages might just be one of the best pet canary cages you will ever see! Have a look!
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There are some great cage deals on small and large pet cages & more. Now is a great time to be sure you have all the proper cages and accessories on hand, too. See some items Robirda uses and recommends, here.
A recent customer says,"I want to thank you for your excellent customer service. Your responses to my queries were timely and effective. I appreciate that so much. I have a friend thinking of a cage like mine for her canary. I will certainly pass on the news of the excellent service I received, as well as a great cage. Thank you so much."
See reviews of some of our cages.
For a full selection of cages and cage accessories, visit BirdandCage.com.
Bird Site Review
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Visit this site to learn more about the one breed of canary that seems to be continuously growing in popularity with all kinds of people, from pet owners to long-term breeders. American Singer Canaries are unique in that they are bred, not just for the quality of their song, but for the freedom with which it is offered.
One of the goals held by dedicated breeders of these birds is to produce a great pet canary, one that will sing frequently and freely. These traits make this breed attractive to a wide variety of people, ranging from pet owners or novices, to old hands at the trade. Test your understanding of genetics by attempting to breed more of these birds, and you may just find yourself learning more than you'd ever thought possible!
Help Needed
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Do you know of a great bird site which deserves a review? Maybe you have a favourite tip or trick that you like to use, or know of a product that has made your bird's life better or easier to manage in some way? Why not share them with other Flock readers? Just send an email here.
"Hi Robirda! Thanks for your thoughts. My little one is singing as loudly as ever. He looks much better today. Your advice was most welcome; I'm particularly grateful about the recipes! I sent you the same amount the vet charged me; you have done no less than he did. You are a real blessing to all of us canary lovers the world over."
"I love your website, your information has made me a very well-informed canary friend/owner. Thank you."
"You have the most informative and helpful small bird site on the Web. I have found your information priceless and inspiring."
"Robirda's website, bird board and e-zine are invaluable tools for any birdlover."
"Thank you so much for the book on canaries. That is a really nice book. I needed one, because I bought my Mom two canaries, a male and a female, we don't know anything about them. I'm so glad to have this book, I couldn't believe how much was in there. Thank you so much!"
Welcome to Robirda's Companion Bird eZine
For breeder or pet bird owners who care.
Website News
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Keep an eye out for our new 2006 Canary Keeper's Calendar, coming soon! Featuring a gorgeous canary photo for each month, along with a monthly calendar with all the usual holidays, etc, marked. But we didn't stop there! We included a lighting schedule for canary keepers, monthly care and/or feeding tips, and there's even room for your own notes! Preorder now for our special early bird price, and get another bonus; we'll add three more months and three pictures and send you a 15 month calendar ranging from Oct 2005 to Dec 2006! Click here to learn more!
Feature Article
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It happens to so many new canary owners; their first canary seemed lonely, so they bought him a mate. They turned out to be more than just friends, and suddenly you've gone from owning two birds, to owning a dozen. For now, they're all sharing a large flight cage, but the question seems inevitable...
What Now?
by R C McDonald
www.robirda.com
Copyright © July 2005
The problem is, that canaries by nature are not very social - we humans, who are so very sociable, find it difficult to imagine, but canaries are actually very territorial, and tend to see other birds (especially other canaries) as being, not wanted company, but unwanted intruders.
Luckily, your hen was in fairly good condition, so your pair was able to mate and raise babies, rather than going into the 'territorial contest' routine. Territorial issues between two birds will often end with the weaker of the two dead.
This is the most common scenario, in fact, when two canaries (of whatever gender) are expected to share a cage over a longer term. (For more, read "Understanding Territoriality", which you'll find here).
Younger canaries tend to be less territorial than the adults, and can usually share a flight cage relatively safely until midwinter or so, if you are careful with the lighting. (to learn about lighting, read the feature article back in Flock Talk's 30th issue, you'll find it here).
One of the biggest problems with territoriality is that the birds almost never display their issues while their people are around to see - 99% of the aggression is liable to happen privately.
Even so, quite often we humans don't recognize canary agression for what it is even when we do see it, but will instead think that the birds are playing or some such, when what is really going on will eventually mean life or death for the birds involved.
Some breeds or strains of canaries are less aggressive than others - but even so, they are still canaries, and can still be fairly territorial.
Even if everybody gets along fairly well up until midwinter, if they are like most canaries, your youngsters will need to be separated each to his or her own cage by mid-December or so. There they will stay until a new home is found for them, or they become ready to breed and are paired with a suitable mate. (For more about this, see the article Pairing Canaries)
Of course, that's only if you decide you want them raising more youngsters! Others will prefer to keep them separated, so that the hen cannot lay fertilized eggs - usually she will still lay and incubate her eggs, but if they aren't fertile, nothing will hatch. (For more, see the article The Breeding Quandary.
If you don't plan to keep your youngsters, you will need to sell them. Many hobby breeders will simply sell their youngsters to other prospective pet owners, but there's another option available that is often over-looked, and that's showing your birds.
Especially if you have pure-bred birds, this can be a great way to meet other bird keepers, and better yet, it offers another option for selling your youngsters; any bird who's shown well will sell for a much better price than it would otherwise, and it would be more likely to sell to somebody able to appreciate it's qualities, and willing to provide a high level of care.
Requirements for showing vary some from breed to breed, so the best way to find out the details you need in order to go about showing your particular bird(s), is to look up and join a club specializing in your favourite breed of canary. If you can't find a local club, join a national one, and consider starting a local chapter.
So how do you go about finding the right bird club to join? One good place to start is the list of links we've posted in our links area under the catagory "Clubs and Organizations", which you'll find here.
This is by no means a complete list of bird clubs who have posted information online! If you happen to know of a club that has a website but is not listed, we hope you will let us know by dropping us a line here.
If you decide not to show, your next task will be to attempt to separate your youngsters by gender, before setting about finding them new homes. Understanding canary territoriality is very important when trying to discern the gender of younger canaries, because if the youngsters are living together in the same cage, often only the more dominant birds will sing.
The 'dangling needle' method that some breeders use, works on the same principles as dowsing for water. For some folks, it can work fairly well - but for most of us, it's rather unreliable. After all, even guesswork has a 50-50 chance of being right!
The old saw about only males sing, is another misconception that is not too dependable - because it is not true that canary hens don't sing. Some canary hens don't sing at all, of course - but a great many of them do sing somewhat. Most are not capable of singing as well as the males - but a few can, and do.
I have had several hens over the years who could sing every bit as good as any male - and I have a friend who had one who sang so well that 'he' won a ribbon for 'his' high-quality song, at a show! It's difficult to say who was more surprised when that 'male' turned around the next spring and began laying eggs!
Some canary people will tell you that a singing hen can be artificially manufactured, by giving her male hormones - this is true, but those same male hormones will prevent egg-laying, so a singing hen who lays her eggs and then commences to sing even while incubating her eggs, as some of mine have done, certainly does not have too many male hormones, or she would not be able to lay her eggs while continuing to sing.
As mentioned above, often only the more dominant birds in a shared-cage situation will sing, so if your youngsters are all sharing the same large cage, it's possible that some non-singing youngsters might actually be males, but being less dominant, are not comfortable singing out.
Generally, a canary will sing best if caged alone. So the best way to find the probable gender of your youngsters, is to place each in a cage by itself, and then wait a few weeks to see who sings, and how much.
The birds that sing a lot, and who have the longer, more complex songs, are more likely to be males. The birds who sing less often, or who have shorter, less complex songs, or who don't sing at all, are more likely to be hens. But as mentioned above, this is guesswork, rather than a guarantee.
What it comes down to, is that there is only one time when it is possible to reliably tell the gender of a canary, and that is when it is fully adult, and in full breeding condition. Then, if you have some experience at it, it is possible to examine the birds' nether ends, and tell their gender.
BUT, the two genders can look similar even then, so you must know and be able to see the subtle differences. Note too, that this only works if the birds are fully ready to breed - otherwise, with most breeds there is no visible difference.
The best way to learn to tell the gender difference between birds who are ready to breed, is to examine a known female, and compare it with a known male. After a little practice, it gets easier. But again, since this only works when the birds are fully ready to breed, the rest of the year you will be left guessing.
The birds themselves are luckier, and can tell at a glance who is which - but they use a method that so far, we are unable to duplicate.
That's because the feathers of the male and female refract ultraviolet light differently, and the canaries can see this difference easily - they have an extra colour cone in their eyes, that allows them to see into the ultraviolet range.
To them, the different refraction of the UV light off the feathers of a male or a female makes the gender difference very clear. Eventually we may be able to use this fact to develop a reliable method of telling canary gender, but since we humans can't see far into the UV range, nor have we developed an inexpensive means to allow us to do this artifically (that I know of), unfortunately this method is so far not possible for us to use.
Two things I CAN tell you, though! The first is that discerning the gender of the youngsters is one of if not THE toughest chore of the year faced by any breeder - and the second is that the person or people who do manage to come up with an easy way to reliably tell the difference between canary genders, is likely to make a small fortune marketing their method!
Until then, we poor humans are stuck with a series of rather round-about trial-and-error methods...
This can be a fairly tough chore, and it's why many breeders will sell you a guaranteed singer - but they will not guarantee that it's male, only that it’s a guaranteed singer. That's because they know that there's always a chance that singer could turn around and begin to lay eggs during the next spring!
Many longer-term canary keepers will tell you that there's only one thing that's relatively certain, when it comes to working with canaries; chances are quite good that all this will keep you busy enough, that you really won't have much (if any!) time left to wonder, "What now?"
by R C McDonald
www.robirda.com
Copyright © July 2005
Special for Flock Talk readers only! For a short time, you can save 20% off your purchase of any of our beautiful antique first edition prints of canaries, cage birds and parrots!
See our gorgeous hand-colored lithographs of the beautiful Cinnamon canaries, one of the oldest of the color mutations. Take a look at the old-style Crested Norwich canaries, admire the spangles on the ancient breed known as Lizard Canaries, giggle at the odd-looking old-style Pouter Pigeons, and more!
We've recently posted some new prints and want to celebrate, so for a limited time we are offering 20% off on all sales made to Flock Talk readers! This deal won't last long, so be sure to take advantage of this special offer while you can!
To claim your discount, simply include a note with your order that you found our site through Flock Talk, and as soon as we process your order, we will return 20% of your purchase price!
Don't miss your chance to own one of these rare antique prints for such a great price, visit www.antiquebirdprints.com today!
"Everyone always asks me why my birds are such beautiful singers and breed such magnificent babies...I tell them that I learned from Robirda! While they give their birds all kinds of 'magical' formulas, I just follow your guide to 'keep it simple.' My birds are now very healthy, and there has been no recurrence of the infection. Thank Goodness!" R.C., Florida
"Even after I made all sorts of changes, my canary still hardly sang. But after I ordered your CD, he sings and sings - I guess he just needed someone to show him how he was supposed to be spending his time! Thanks for such a nice CD."
Song CD
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It's been almost two years since we first offered our latest CD of Robirda's canaries singing for sale, and it is proving to be a popular choice for many people, both for themselves or as a gift. We have received a great deal of positive feedback from our customers. Here's just a few of those comments:
"I just want to let you know, that my little bird is enjoying the CD that I bought from you. I play it every morning for him. My girlfriend says that my bird learns a new song every so often and I say it is thanks to listening to your birds!"
"Wow! Our old canary is singing new songs, learned from your CD! He listens intently until the CD ends, then starts trying out everything he's been hearing!"
"Just a quick message to thank you for your prompt delivery of my CD. Your CD has done wonders for my canary, he hasn't sang for months and now he tries to out sing the CD, very fulfilling for me to watch! Thank you for a great product!"
Find out more about our Canary Song CD!
Stories Wanted
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Send us your stories of how your birds confuse and puzzle, interest and amuse you, and we will share them with the rest of our readers in a future issue. Just send an email here.
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For you
& Your Birds,
With Love
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If you find help you need in this ezine or on one of our websites, please consider joining our sponsors.
Read testimonials or find out more about becoming a sponsor. If you're looking for something different, check our home page for links to all our great products!
Our next issue is due Sunday, Sept 25th. We hope you and your birds stay safe, well and happy in the meantime, and we look forward to seeing you all then!
"Just a short note to tell you how great your ezine is... As a long time bird lover I thank you for your wonderful mag. Keep up the great work!"
"I ordered 'Canary Tales' by Linda Hogan last year...Although I fully recommend buying the book, I find Robirda's book much more complete, easier to read with less difficulty finding information."
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