Canaries: how many years do these birds live in captivity and features of breeding and care

Canaries were brought by the Spaniards from the Canary Islands, from where they got their name. This group of birds is rather inconspicuous, but very popular precisely because of their singing abilities. When asked how many years canaries live, many authors answer that the average life expectancy is 8-10 years, although with proper care, birds can live up to 15 years. A factor in the longevity and healthy life of these birds is the proper food and conditions where the canaries live.

Breeds and types of canaries

There are three breeds of canaries:

• decorative;
• singers;
• colored.

Decorative are divided into the following types:

• crested;
• curly;
• convulsive;
• humpbacked;
• painted.

Crested

This species includes birds that have crests, which is why they got their name. The feathers on the parietal part of the head are slightly elongated, which creates the feeling of a cap. Crested, too, in turn, are divided into several subspecies:

• German crested;
• lancashire;
• english crested
• Gloucester.

Life expectancy is about 12 years. There is one an essential detail in the reproduction of these individuals: if you cross two crested individuals, then the offspring will be lethal. Therefore, one individual is crossed with a crest, and the other must necessarily be smooth-headed.

Curly

This smooth-headed species of canaries has narrow and thin feathers. Depending on the subspecies, the body length varies from 11 to 19 cm. The birds are quite unpretentious.

There are 6 subspecies:

• norwich canary;
• Bernese canary;
• Spanish decorative canary;
• Yorkshire canary;
• border;
• mini border.

Average life expectancy is 10-15 years with proper care.

Curly

Representatives of this species are distinguished by the fact that their feathers curl along the entire length of the body. it fairly large individuals from 17 cm in length, except for the Japanese subspecies. It is believed that they are descended from the Dutch canary. Breeders were interested in their unusual feathers, as a result of which several different unusual subspecies were bred:

• Parisian curly (trumpeter);
• french curly;
• swiss curly;
• Italian curly;
• Paduan or Milanese spasm;
• Japanese curly (makij);
• northern curly;
• fiorino.

Life expectancy 10 – 14 years.

Humpbacked

These are unique birds whose heads are lowered so low that descends below the shoulders, while the body is perfectly vertical. In this subspecies, the tail either descends straight or is bent downwards. This species is the rarest. There are four subspecies of these birds:

• Belgian humpback;
• Scottish;
• Munich humpback;
• japanese humpback.

On average, they can live 10 – 12 years in captivity.

Painted

This is the only species of canaries in which the body color differs sharply from other varieties. These birds hatch completely inconspicuous and after the first year of molting, they acquire a very bright color, that is, in the second year they are completely bright birds. But this bright plumage does not last forever, it lasts a couple of years (2 – maximum 3 years), after which the bright color gradually fades away, as if it fades in the sun, until it becomes hardly noticeable. Two subspecies of painted canaries are known:

• London;
• lizard.

The life expectancy of these canaries is from 10 to 14 years. Unfortunately, decorative individuals are not so in demand among lovers of canaries as songbirds, since a change in the morphological features of the species negatively affects the vocal features of birds, as a result of which singing abilities decrease. Canary breeders are not very fond of these deformities, which makes them not particularly popular.

Singing canaries

These are the most popular types of birds of this breed. Officially, there are 3 types of this breed:

• German (harz roller);
• Belgian (Malinois);
• Spanish (timbrados).

There is also a Russian breed, but it is not recognized by the international community.

Harz Roller

The German subspecies or Harz Roller originated in the Upper Harz, from where it got its name. This subspecies has a low, velvety voice, but the most interesting thing is that canaries sing without opening their beaks, due to which there is a soft, not cutting ear, sounding of the voice. At the same time, the Harz roller is in a vertical position and strongly inflates the throat. The life path of these birds varies from 8 to 12 years.

malinois

Malinois or Belgian songbird was bred near the city of Mechelen (Belgium). This is a fairly large bird, yellow in color, without any inclusions. The song qualities of this canary are more complex and richer in comparison with the Harz roller. But she can perform songs with both open and closed mouth. At the same time, the songs of birds are evaluated by professionals on a 120-point scale.

Belgian song canary over time gaining more and more popularity among amateurs. Life expectancy is up to 12 years.

spanish chanter

“Timbrados” or the Spanish song canary is one of the most ancient species, which was obtained by crossing the European canary finch with a wild canary. This is a rather miniature bird up to 13 cm long, with a rounded body, compared to the Harz roller. The vocal features of the timbrados canary are rated on a 75-point scale. Life expectancy is approximately 9 – 11 years.

Russian breed

The Russian breed is not recorded in the International Ornithological Association “COM” as a separate, independently existing subspecies. Although in 2005, the “State Commission of the Russian Federation for the Testing and Protection of Breeding Achievements” recognized the breed: “Russian Canary Finch” and issued a certificate in confirmation. They are not recognized by the international community because they still have not come to the definition of a standard for the Russian song breed. It can be said that Breed-specific singing has not been determined with its inherent set of knees and a rating scale. For this reason, Harz rollers are more bred in Russia.

Colored canaries

Currently, this species has about 100 breeds. But, at the same time, they are divided into 2 subspecies, depending on the coloring pigment that is contained in the feather and is the main determining color:

• melanin (dark color);
• lipochromic (light color).

The melanin pigment has a protein structure in the form of grains and is formed in the body from a special protein. Lipochromes have a fatty structure and are made from keratin. Lipochromes are mostly in a dissolved state, so the colors are lighter. Different combinations of these pigments, which are produced by the body, give us different colors, so there are a lot of subspecies of them. The question “how many years do colored canaries live” can be answered that with proper care, their life can reach about 13 years.