CANARY BIRDS Have Been Ideal Pets for Centuries

Canary Bird - Photo by steve p2008 

The value of canary birds as pets was first recognized by the Spaniards in the 15th century. Spain took ownership of the Canary Islands early in the 1400s and noticed the beautiful singing birds. As a side note, the birds became known as canaries because they came from the Canary Islands. Many people think that the islands got the name because there are so many canaries there. But it is the other way around. Canaries are also found in the Azores and Madeira.

The early Spanish settlers and explorers knew that the pretty yellow birds with their melodic sounds would make perfect pets. They also discovered that only the male canaries sing. Clever businessmen that they were, they controlled the market by creating a monopoly on male canaries. As with any controlled product, the price of male canaries was high enough that they were considered pets only for the wealthy.

As with any successful business venture, soon there were copycats and canary birds became available in Italy and Germany and from there, they spread through the rest of Europe. At the same time breeders began refining the breed of canary birds so that the most appealing songsters, those with the prettiest colors, and the best body structure were bred for their attributes.

The domestic canary birds that are available today are different from the wild canaries that the Spanish first brought home for sale due to the long selective breeding process. They are beautiful pets and can bring joy into your home. They live up to 10 years. They are easy to feed as they like human food. It is however a better idea to feed them food designed for their breed. It has more of the full range of nutrients that they need. They also need a lot of water. They have fast metabolism and can get dangerously dehydrated quickly.

If you wanted to breed your own canary birds, they are well suited to raising their family in captivity. All you really need is one pair of birds sharing a cage. Just make sure that they have enough room to live together in the cage. A good size is 2 feet by 4 feet. This gives them space to move around. Canaries are not always in breeding mode. Typically they are fertile when the days are 12 hours long. In many places this eliminates winter and summer when the days are either shorter or longer than 12 hours.

While they are small and delicate in appearance, canaries are fairly hardy. There is one thing that can be hard on them and that is rapid changes in the environment. A draft can be very dangerous to your canary and a sudden blast of chilly air can kill a canary. A rule of thumb is if the breeze makes a candle flicker, then it is too drafty for a canary to live in that spot. Canary birds do like sunlight but not direct sunlight that will overheat them.

By Kevin Highfill - Article Source: EzineArticles

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