WHAT IS A SONG CANARY?
Don’t all birds sing? Well….. yes and no…
Canaries, just like dogs and other domesticated animals, started out in a wild form but with the help of man’s deliberate selective breeding have evolved to have desirable qualities beyond their wild form. For example, we all know wolves were domesticated and bred over the years to take on various forms and functions creating a variety of dog “breeds” (German Shepherds, Poodles, Golden Retrievers, cockers, pugs etc.) Each has it’s own look and function.
The wild greenish-brown finch native to the Canary Islands was captured and kept as pets. Over the centuries they were domesticated and bred for different colors, shapes, sizes and types of songs. The resulting birds have evolved into different breeds. These numerous breeds are broken down into three basic categories: color, type, and song canaries. “Color Canaries” are those bred specifically for a special color or color pattern such as the bright red/orange ones. “Type Canaries” have been developed for a special “look” such as breeds with the “Beatle’s Haircut” look, bent postures, extreme in sizes, and twisted feathers and other mutations.
“Type and Color” male canaries do sing, but usually not a particularly pleasant song compared to the “Song Canaries”. It’s strange to think of a song quality is something that can actually be bred for specifically, but it is inherited just like color or size. There are 4 recognized breeds of Song Canaries in the US. They are (German) Rollers, American Singers, Spanish Timbrados, and Belgium Waterslagers. Each breed has it’s unique sound.
The oldest and most well known is the German Roller which was developed in Germany. “Rollers” can come in almost every canary color but most are green, yellow or a combination. The roller’s song is very low and quiet and must be sung with a closed beak.
Waterslagers are
a breed that was developed around Belgium. They are usually yellow/buff with
an occasional “tick” (black mark) but they may also be white or variegated
although clear yellow is preferred. They are very similar to the rollers, but
sing several more tours (parts of songs) than the roller. Waterslagers have
a unique “watery” sounding quality to their songs. Some tours sound like drops
of water falling into a bucket or boiling water while others remind me of a
child blowing bubbles through a straw or water slipping over rocks in a stream.
The waterslager’s song has been deliberately influenced by the song of the
Nightingale by monks in Europe. The Waterslager can modulate the volume of
his song well. In general his song is louder than a roller’s and he is allowed
to open his beak to sing some tours. The Waterslager is considered to have
the greatest range of all the canaries.
Waterslager song sample links:
http://westernwaterslager.com/text/Articles.htm#Song
http://www.geocities.com/pacificamericansingers/articles/artfcw11.htm
http://www.waterslagers.com/text/songs.htm
The Spanish Timbrado is relatively new to the
U.S.. It is a breed that is considered to be the closest to the wild canaries
and in fact has been developed by crossing the local domesticated canary back
to it’s wild cousins. The result is a more wild and “metallic” sounding song
characterized by clear high-pitched bells and castanets tours and usually a
louder volume than the other song breeds of canaries but still should be very
pleasant to listen to.
Spanish Timbrado song sample links:
http://spanishtimbrado.us/Home_Page.php
http://www.geocities.com/pacificamericansingers/articles/artfcw11.htm
When I think of the American
Singer, I often think of the hybridizing of roses. In the quest to develop
the most beautiful bloom with vibrant colors, the rose started to lose it’s
beautiful fragrance and hardiness. Canary fanciers were focusing so much on
developing a beautiful bird, that they started to lose the beautiful song and
hardiness of the birds. The old European song canaries were less than flashy
in appearance. The American Singer canary was deliberately “created” by crossing
a Border Canary and a roller canary and a little bit of one of the larger breeds.
The goal was to create a beautiful colored bird that also had a beautiful song
and hybrid vigor (like a hybrid exquisite rose with beautiful perfume too).
American Singers are prized for their freedom and variety of song and generally
must be very pleasant to listen to. There is no strict song standard or list
of tours that these birds should sing as there are with the other song breeds.
American Singer song sample links:
http://www2.upatsix.com/asc/songinfo.htm
http://www.geocities.com/pacificamericansingers/articles/artfcw11.htm
While the different breeds of song canaries develop their own sound, generally speaking, the goal is for the bird to sing long songs with a lot of variety and good tone. Short songs, abrupt stops, harsh or shrill notes are “faults”. Birds that sing for the sake of singing all the time are prized.
