It’s just 2 days short of spring, and my canary seems to know it! Yesterday and today he  was making rusty croaking noises that are his way of trying to sing. Oh my bird, I hope you can someday, because you have the spirit within you!

So I started looking for canary songs online. A young bird doesn’t learn to sing until he’s 6 months old, so that’s why you might pay a little more for a canary – but it’s worth it! As I’ve written earlier, I pretty much think my canary is a girl, which means they didn’t put her in the song room to learn from the experienced singers, and now she doesn’t know how! :(

I won’t give up, though, so I found a few canary songs on Youtube to play for my bird every day, and maybe he/she will learn some notes. Here is a longer, pretty song on Youtube:

American Singer Canary with Waterslager Sounds

Don’t know how to upload the vid here. But anyway, I’m pretty sure that’s the first time I ever saw the word Waterslager. The only thing I don’t like is the very small cage the canary is in. Yeah, I know it’s a show cage, like the owner says, but still PAINFULLY small. I feel very bad for the bird.

But one of the comments there has really taken my fancy, by Middledeeping:

American Singer canaries are the greatest birds ever. Mine lived? for 13 1/2 years, was the healthiest, most exuberant, adaptable pet I’ve ever owned. The pet shop owner warned me that it might take 2 wks. for him to adjust & start singing. He sang his head off in the tiny cardboard box on his way home from the shop! He drove all over the USA w/me, propped up on a pillow in the front seat w/a lap belt around his cage, looking out the window & singing. His long song was simply breathtaking.

So interesting, people are. Who drives all over the US with a canary cage in the front seat!? Read more »

I’ve been wondering for a while, if birds cry. My parakeet almost moans when he’s afraid, or gives a little shriek, but what about sadness? Google being what it is, I found this WikiHow article instead:
How to Use Clothespins for Your Canary Cage

I mean, who would have thought writing such an article was necessary? I don’t have any clothespins, do you? Does anyone? Nevertheless, I’ll read anything about canaries, and I was fascinated by the title.

Here were the 2 suggestions I think would be helpful if you have both clothespins AND a canary:

• Start using your clothespins daily. Whenever you open the cage door to handle your canary or to clean the cage, have the clothespins handy to keep the cage door open. (Well, maybe not the first sentence. And in my cage, the doors stay open on their own, but many cages do have spring doors.)
• Clothespins can hold the canaries’ greens (leaves, stalks etc.) from the top of the cage. (I use metal clips for greens or treats, and some kind of clip is essential, so everything doesn’t flop to the bottom of the cage. Again, I don’t have any clothespins, but sure, they’d work.)

The suggestion I didn’t like is to use them as perches. I think they’re too short for the bird to feel comfortable and secure. Also, he would slip on the plastic ones.

But let’s not overlook the attractive design in the photo someone made with clothespins to illustrate the article! I like the yellow one at the top, the color of a canary. And it reminds me of the practice women used to follow when they made quilts: the idea that only God is perfect, so they would have one mismatching piece or color or stitch in every quilt.

Even, or maybe especially, in the strict Amish quilts.

I had to point out this disgusting article about birdfighting involving canaries and finches. From the Daily Record:

Police arrested 19 people from Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Jersey and seized 150 birds in a house raid on an alleged bird-fighting operation. Most of the birds were saffron finches, which are small birds native to South America, and a few were canaries, officials said.

Police said they made the arrests Sunday just as spectators had placed bets and were getting ready to watch the birds fight at a home in Shelton, just west of New Haven. Authorities say they seized $8,000 in alleged betting money.

The 19 people, all originally from Brazil, were charged with cruelty to animals and gambling.

The birds would fight for some 15 minutes, pecking each other in the legs, head and eyes…

This was in New Haven?? Gross. I don’t know how they decided who the winner was – it would take a lot for a canary beak to inflict much damage on another bird, but I guess the eyes would be vulnerable. I think the red canaries, or saffrons, as they call them, are more aggressive. I had a red canary who would hiss at me if I woke him up at night. Not really aggressive, for a bird weighing about an ounce…

From CNN:

Wayne Kasacek of the Connecticut Department of Agriculture, which helped remove the birds, said that at least four of the finches have eye injuries.

But this is how serial killers start, by killing small animals. Or, in this case, Brazillian immigrants. No info on whether they’re legal. I love the comment someone left:

so wonderful when people from other countries come here and share their rich heritage and exotic traditions…

A neighbor friend saw me outside swinging my bird cage with canary included, and asked, “And where are you two going today?!”

Busted! Most people are at REAL jobs during the day, and so I feel free to walk around the courtyard in my raggedy shorts that are too short, and goofy top. Not to mention carrying my birdcage. But she caught me, on her way  out to work!

Photo by Elizabeth Dilts.

But I had my reasons for taking my canary for a walk. I recently read that canaries need a lot of Vitamin D – because they have a higher need for calcium than, say, my parakeet. And even though I carry the canary to my sunniest window every day, you can’t get that vitamin through glass. It’s also good exercise for their legs and feet, and wings, to keep their balance in a swinging cage. So I’ve been taking him on walks.

I’m not the only one. Several years ago I had read in Bird Talk about canary owners in the Far East taking their birds for a walk, and meeting in a park, and this colorful idea had stuck in my mind. They must really love their birds!   Read more »