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ISSN 1492-8132
Issue 156, © 2006
No reprints without permission.
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SALE!! Bird & Cage Co is so pleased with their new line of stainless steel cages, that they've decided to have a sale! From now until Nov 1, you can save $200.00 on one of these durable and beautiful parrot cages.
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For a full selection of cages and cage accessories, visit BirdandCage.com.
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Welcome to Robirda's Companion Bird eZine
For breeder or pet bird owners who care.
We continue to get great responses from readers who've bought the latest edition of Robirda's book, Brats in Feathers, Keeping Canaries.
A recent customer says, "I'll start off by saying that 'seed sprouting' did not register with me until I got my copy of Brats in Feathers. My first attempt was a disaster until I read about 'stale seeds'. That's when you told me about Herman Bros and I placed an order with them. I sprouted four teaspoons of the Herman Bros 'soak seed' mix, according to your recipe in Brats and they were ready today.
"The results are almost miraculous. Enrico sang from 9am until noon. I am hearing 'riffs' I didn't even know he was capable of. I also went to the organic food store and got some fresh kale and a leaf as big as my hand lasts about 1/2 hour. He absolutely loves kale. Enrico has gotten less aggressive, flies to his sprouts perch which is inches from my hand and waits for his sprouts and NOW is singing like his namesake, Don Enrico Caruso. Your book has been yellow magic marked to unrecognizability. What a wealth of information."
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Brats in Feathers is available in a cost-effective black and white format, or you can order the version that includes the full-colour photos section, chock-full of fantastic canary photos. Learn more here.
Feature Article
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Lately I've been hearing the same questions over and over; how easy is it to set up cage-sharing for canaries and finches, and is it adviseable? How well will these different species do when sharing a cage, and is there any pitfalls to watch for if you decide to try it? It must be time to write about...
by R C McDonald
www.robirda.com
Copyright © Oct 2006
It's possible to keep some species of finch in the same cage as a canary - in fact, many people keep cages with various species of mixed finches and waxbills, and often there will be a canary or two included. Usually all the inmates will seem to be sharing their home peacefully.
But in actual fact, birds of all species, large or small, are expert at hiding signs of trouble from their human caretakers. Unless that human is well versed in avian body language, troubles may exist unrealized, until one or more birds fall ill.
Such illnesses seem to come from nowhere, but actually that's not the case; many common avian diseases are often present in latent form in a bird's body, kept in check by a healthy immune system. But stress can weaken the immune system, and prolonged stress can damage it to the point where the bird's system can no longer fight off disease. Thus, the 'sudden illness' of one or more of the group, too often followed by death.
Let's look a bit more closely at how and why this can happen.
The problem starts with the fact that most finch species are either social or territorial. Canaries are territorial. They sing to proclaim ownership of their territory, or, during early spring when breeding season begins, to attract a mate. Canaries are not socially inclined, and most don't like, enjoy, or want company in the same cage with them.
In fact, canaries tend to see other birds in the same cage as being intruders or even invaders, depending on what kind of birds they are and how they are acting. State of health and time of year also have an affect, as most birds are more aggressive during their breeding season than out of it. A healthy bird will be more likely to try to enforce his wishes than one who is moulting, or for some other reason is not in optimal condition.
Keeping canaries with birds such as green or grey singers, who are also territorial, is simply asking for trouble if done for anything more than short term periods. It should not be done at all during either species' breeding periods; generally this is spring for canaries, and fall for the green or grey singers.
All three species are highly territorial, and each individual will try to claim all the space they can, wherever they live. In a cage this may lead to fighting, or it may simply result in the more dominant birds constantly harrassing the less dominant ones, whose health will begin to gradually decline.
This slow loss of health and well-being is rarely noticed by the owners until the bird is on death's doorstep. That's because the aggressors will be careful to limit their displays whenever there's a larger predator around - which is how most birds tend to see human beings, unless they're quite tame.
Most of the commonly kept finches are estrildids such as zebra finches or society finches. These birds are highly social, and engage in several social behaviours, which they will actively solicit. But if they act this way around the canary, he won't understand what they're doing, and will find such odd behaviour at the least puzzling, and at the worst, threatening.
Those who keep estrildid type finches will note that they spend a lot of time sitting closely together. This is known as clumping. They also engage in mutual preening, and will spend a lot of time grooming each other. This is called allopreening, and is a way of making each other feel socially relaxed.
There is always a relationship between personal space and aggression, whatever the species. Humans vary in personal space (how far apart they sit or stand); this is due in part to culture, and in part to gender, and also has to do with whether or not they are dominant individuals. For example, studies have shown that in humans, generally the more dominant the male, the less he will allow you into his personal space. However, women differ quite drastically; the more dominant the woman, the more she will tend to allow others into her close personal space.
Those folks who keep estrildid type finches (who engage in clumping and allopreening) and canaries (who don't) will note that it is easy to keep estrildids together peacefully, as they have ways to calm each other socially and so can share the same area (territory). Indeed, most individuals of these species will pine away if kept alone! They need the socialization of their own kind in order to thrive.
Canaries, on the other hand, being territorial rather than social, don't have these habits and instead prefer that other birds, whatever their species, stay out of their cage.
Most people who keep estrildids will tell you to go ahead and keep your canary with your finches, that there should be no problem with this. Being more familiar with the warm, loving sociability of their finches, they don't see how it would be possible for serious problems to arise through adding another bird to the cage, as long as the bird in question is not too different in size.
On the other hand, most experienced canary keepers will probably tell you that any canary will be much happier - and will be much more likely to sing more, too - if kept on his own.
The reason for these disparities is experience. Generally, few finch keepers know much about canaries, even if they keep a few for pets. Canaries are rather particular about their living space, but they are so good at hiding what they think from their owners, that most will think they are perfectly happy. Since they've never seen a canary who has adequate space and who is confident that he owns it, they don't (and may never) know the difference.
There's other concerns as well, when considering housing finches and canaries together. It's not only possible, but probable, that there will be a longer-term problem with the food supplies. This problem takes quite a while to develop fully, perhaps years. It may never be recognized as a problem at all, except by those who are very good at noting details - but it can mean a shorter lifespan for both species, in the long run.
The problem is that most finches are adapted to eat a diet consisting mostly of millet-type seeds. These are fairly hard seeds to crack, which is why, for such a small bird, each finch has a relatively big beak.
Canary seed mixes, on the other hand, are based on canary grass, which is softer, easier to eat, and a little higher in protein and fats than millet. Most finches love canary grass and will eat it whenever they can find it - but if they are allowed to do so all the time, they can get fat. And, just as with people, this can lead to a shorter lifespan.
On the other hand, canaries are adapted to eat grass seeds, smaller and generally softer than millets - many can't crack the larger millet seeds at all, or if they can, they have to expend a fair bit of energy to do so. You can see this quite easily by looking at how their beak is built, in comparison to estrildids.
If the finches decide, as they often will, to eat up the canary seed before turning to their millet mixes, the canary may not find much left to eat! Although he can and will pick through the finch mix and eat what he can, it may not be enough to sustain him properly. Sometimes it can take a year or two for a canary on this type of diet to starve to death - but it's a long, slow death, and too often the owner knows nothing at all about it until the bird is too weak to hide it any longer.
Sick birds, whatever their species, will ALWAYS try to hide the fact that they're not 100% well from any living beings who happen to be nearby, human or otherwise. It's an instinct for survival left over from their wild inheritance, an attempt not to let nearby birds know they can easily be driven away, and at the same time fool lurking predators, so they won't know they'd be easy to catch.
There's still another common problem with housing finches and canaries together over the longer term, and it too is often missed by the birds' human caretakers.
Most finches move much more quickly than canaries tend to, and this can make the canary nervous. If you look at a cage that has both canaries and finches in it, rarely if ever will you see members of the two species willingly sharing a perch.
Wherever he is in the cage, the canary will feel he always has to be on the lookout to move away from 'incoming' - or to duck a little speedster zipping by overhead. This means he will rarely if ever feel he can properly relax.
Given this state of affairs, its not unusual to realize that many canaries housed in shared aviaries don't tend to sing much (or at all), unless the cage is large enough that the canary can stake out an area to claim for his own.
All this is, of course, generalities; just like people, each finch and each canary has his or her own individual personality. He or she may or may not adhere to the 'rules' generally quoted for their species. But individuals who differ widely from the norm are relatively rare, so more often than not, generalized guidelines such as those outlined in this article will apply.
Individual expression depends on each bird, how it was raised, and his or her personality. There are such creatures as sociable canaries - but they're very rare. You will find the occasional unsociable finch sometimes too, but again, such individuals are the exception rather than the rule.
Can your finches and canaries share a cage? Yes, in the short term, or in a huge cage with a multitude of visually separated areas and feeding stations; but otherwise, "no" is probably a better choice.
by R C McDonald
www.robirda.com
Copyright © Oct 2006
Song CD
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Do you like to keep your canaries singing? Encourage your canaries to sing more with our CD, featuring Robirda's canaries in full song. Or, use it to call more wild birds to your yard, or to make your pet parrots more comfortable in your home.
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Find out more about our Canary Song CD here.
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