Everything You Need to Know About Pet Canaries

When you think of getting a pet bird, you might instantly picture a classic lemon yellow canary in an ornate white wire aviary filling your home with beautiful melodies. These petite birds have sweet personalities, live up to 10 years, love perch hopping, taking baths, and rarely nip at their owners, making them great companions.

Although only one species of pet canary exists, Serinus canaria domesticus, you can choose from hundreds of varieties thanks to selective breeding to enhance their voices, singing abilities, feather colors, overall appearances, and so much more!

We chatted with Brynn McCleery, DVM, DABVP (Avian Practice), an active member of the Association of Avian Veterinarians from the Red Bank Veterinary Hospital in New Jersey, to learn more about pet canaries and how we can best care for these feathered friends.

"A lot of pet owners do not realize that smaller birds like canaries require veterinary care. We recommend bringing your new canary in for a new pet visit shortly after purchase. During this visit, your veterinarian will make sure your new feathered family member is healthy and will discuss diet, caging, and care in more detail," she explained. "Annual exams are recommended after that to catch any health concerns as early as possible. Even though canaries don't require vaccinations like the family cat or dog, these yearly wellness exams are essential to maintaining your canary's health since these tiny birds tend to hide signs of illness from you at home."

Canaries come in a variety of colors.

What Colors Are Canaries?

In the wild, canaries flaunt a vibrant yellow color with undertones of green and black. In captivity, you'll discover that canaries appear in three common base colors:

  • Lutino (yellow)

  • Rubino (red)

  • White

These colors may have accents of green, white, or black. Some pet canaries present with a dark coat with a few lighter feathers mixed in. Both males and females have the same coloration options.

"Of course, that's just scratching the surface of the color variations and does not account for the huge variety of body shape and plumage varieties," McCleery explained. "Canaries have been bred for larger or smaller size, differences in posture (with bent backs or vulture-like stoops), differences in body shape (ranging from globoid/round to sleek and slender), and feather variations (including curled feathers, mop tops, and crests)."

McCleery says her favorite canaries are crested and gloster, which means they look like they are wearing cute little toupees and have frilled, or curled, feathers that appear gently wind-blown.

Red and white canary resting on a perch.

Red and white canary resting on a perch.

What Size Are Canaries?

Adult pet canaries typically range in size from 4 to 9 inches long and weigh about half an ounce. When shopping for a home for your pet canary, McCleery suggests selecting the largest habitat that fits your budget and the space you have in your home.

"Canaries will benefit from a large cage that allows flight. In the wild, these birds would spend a significant portion of the day exercising through flight. Providing cages that are longer in a horizontal direction, rather than vertically, is recommended for canaries to encourage flight within the cage," she added.

A stainless steel or powder-coated rectangular metal aviary at least two feet long, with bars spaced no more than 1 cm apart, works well for a single canary. (Note: House male canaries solo. If you want a pair that doesn't breed, get two females.) When designing your bird's living space, position natural wood or rope perches and toys so they don't obstruct flight from one end of the habitat to the other.

McCleery advises avoiding galvanized metal aviaries since they contain zinc, a toxic element to birds. It's best to position the home away from direct sunlight or drafts from doors, fans, and HVAC vents.

When it comes to substrates, the best is a wire grate that allows feces to fall through or a simple layer of paper towels or brown craft paper. Avoid corn cob, wood shavings, or sand, as these items may promote mold or fungal growth that may make the pet sick.

It's also worth noting that canaries have sensitivities to air fresheners, scented candles, self-cleaning ovens/sprays, and some cooking tools.

"Nonstick cookware and appliances containing PFAs like polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE, e.g., Teflon) are toxic to birds when overheated. Canaries are particularly sensitive to respiratory toxins," McCleery educated. She suggests using stainless steel or ceramic-coated pans instead.

What Sounds Do Canaries Make?

If you're looking for a vocal canary, opt for a male. They have a more developed and melodious sound, which improves after they sexually mature at 8 to 12 months old. McCleery says some of the top canary songbird types include the German roller, Persian singer, Spanish timbrado, American singer, and Waterslager.

Female canaries vocalize too; however, they tend to make single-note calls, chirps, or short whistles.

You'll notice your pet canary sings more often during the spring and summer breeding season after they reach a year or older. They tend to quiet down when they are molting (a regular shedding of feathers), have an illness, or if there is an environmental change or stressor in the home (such as a new crying baby or an overly curious cat).

During molting season, offer your canary Kaytee Molting And Conditioning For All Pet Birds to provide additional nutrition support and enhance your pet's feather colors.

Two white canaries

Two crested white canaries

What Do I Feed My Pet Canaries?

In the wild, canaries eat mostly seeds. Pet canaries, however, benefit by eating a high-quality pellet bird food, according to McCleery. This offers your pet variety and better nutritional content than a seed-only diet.

A few pet canary foods to consider include:

When it comes to treats used for mental enrichment or training, offer millet, niger, linseed, and rapeseed. McCleery says while seed shouldn't make up a large part of your pet's diet, supplementing with seed can encourage singing from your canary.

The Kaytee Songbird Treat for Canary and Finch features niger seed, flax seed, two types of millet, and more delicious seeds to encourage your canary to sing.

"Canaries can also be offered a variety of fresh vegetables and more limited amounts of fruit," she shared. "Natural foods high in carotenoids like beta-carotene can help enhance color in morphs. Carotenoids can be found in berries, sweet potatoes, bell peppers, butternut squash, carrots, and beets. Ensure that vegetables and fruits are cut into small pieces that can be easily managed by a canary's beak."

Canaries also love leafy greens and vegetables such as:

  • Lettuces

  • Dandelion greens (fresh, not treated with any yard sprays, etc.)

  • Carrot tops

  • Herbs (cilantro, basil, parsley)

  • Veggies with a lot of texture, like broccoli and green beans

Try tucking the greens inside a Kaytee Veggie Basket hanging from the bars of the habitat. Your canary will playfully peck and tug at the treat.

Canary flying across aviary.

Canary flying across aviary.

Do Canaries Like Toys?

Yes! Providing toys for your pet canary to shred, move, and investigate triggers healthy mental stimulation.

McCleery suggests offering your pet canary items with a natural component and after playtime, removing the toys from the habitat unless you want to encourage nesting behavior.

Consider trying:

  • Cardboard (rings cut from toilet paper tubes)

  • Paper (plain, without inks or colors)

  • Corn husk

  • Palm

  • Seagrass

  • Sola

  • Loofa gourd

  • Mahogany pod

  • Leather strips (raw, untreated)

Your pet canary may also like a mirror; however, some canaries try to fight the bird they see in the mirror. If your bird gets flustered, remove the mirror. Additional ideas include bird toys made with beads or bells, bird ladders, bird swings, bird baths (small bowl inside the habitat), and bird perches with various textures.

"Rotation of toys (removing and returning toys at a later date) is important to keep your canary mentally stimulated," McCleery reminded.

A bird game to try

Canaries naturally perform captive foraging, which means they will search for food and engage in behaviors that would naturally occur in the wild. McCleery says pet owners can mimic this using household items.

Here's a peek-a-boo-style game for you to play with your canary:

  1. Place a few larger non-ingestible items, such as torn pieces of paper towel, wooden beads, or cardboard squares, in your pet's food bowl to attract interest.

  2. Watch your canary. Is she still eating food from around the add-ins?

  3. Cover the bowl with a loose piece of paper towel with a small hole in the middle, allowing your pet to peek through and see the food below. Does she try to move the paper towel? Good!

  4. Place a new piece of paper towel with no hole over the bowl. Does your pet still try to get to the food? Fun!

  5. Tape the paper towel to the sides of the bowl to encourage your bird to shred the paper towel to access the food. This is what captive foraging looks like. Enjoy watching your pet show off her natural instincts.

You can encourage more captive foraging by placing pellet food or seeds inside small bowls, cups, or toys tucked in various corners of the pet's habitat. Or try offering a bowl of hay with seeds sprinkled in for your pet to dig through.

How Can I Bond with My Pet Canary?

Don't let the size of your pet deter you from playing and training together. McCleery says canaries are almost always defined as hands-off birds (due to their small, fragile size), so consider working on target training and singing lessons together.

"While canaries are more nervous and shyer compared to many other pet bird species, they can be trained using positive reinforcement techniques such as target training," McCleery shared. "Birds with training can be allowed out of their cage for increased exercise and flight, making sure the room is safe with windows closed, ceiling fans off, and blinds pulled down over any large windows. With patience, a calm environment, and positive reinforcement using treats like a favorite food item, training a canary is possible!"

She says she has met canary owners who have trained their pets to free-flight out of their habitat with a voluntary return to the home afterward.

Strengthen your connection by talking and whistling to your bird. As you do this, offer a small treat through the bars of the aviary. This may take a few tries before the bird understands, so stay patient. Eventually, you can place your hand inside the habitat with the treat, and hopefully, the canary will land on your fingers to eat the treat from your palm.

"Working by approximations (i.e., small steps to achieve your final goal of having your canary sit on your hand or fly to you) and using positive reinforcement in the way of verbal praise and treats during the process — hopefully, your bond will grow," McCleery explained.

In the 1950s, nine female canaries were the focus of a study by psychologists at Queens College in New York. Various experiments proved the feathered pets could solve visual problems, form concepts, and respond to perceptual and spatial relationships.

McCleery added, "These little birds are quite smart, so you should definitely think twice before trying to insult someone by calling them a 'bird brain'!"

Canaries Make Great Pets

Petite little canaries make perfect companions for smaller homes. You'll adore this bird's unique vocalizations, inquisitive personality, and ability to engage with you.

Although the thought of a pet canary may seem new to you, bird lovers have bred them in captivity for centuries. Royal families in Europe used to keep canaries as pets and status symbols. And now you can too!

Learn more about caring for a bird pet in Pet Bird Routine.