The Canary (Serinus canaria) sometimes called the Island Canary, Wild Canary or Atlantic Canary is a small songbird which is a member of the finch family.

This bird is native to Madeira and the Canary Islands. The bird was named after the Canary Islands, not the other way around; "Canary" is derived from the Latin canaria, "of the dogs", referring to the numerous wild dogs that inhabited the islands.

Its habitat is semi-open areas such as orchards and copses, where it nests in bushes or trees.

The wild bird is 12.5 to 13.5 cm long, yellow-green, with streaking on its back. It is larger, longer and less contrasted than its relative the Serin, and has more grey and brown in its plumage.

The song is a silvery twittering like the Goldfinch.

This species is often kept as a pet: see Domestic Canary for details.

More facts

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Canaries were once regularly used in coal mining as an early warning system. Toxic gases such as carbon monoxide and methane in the mine would kill the bird before affecting the miners. Because canaries tend to sing much of the time, they provided both a visual and audible cue in this respect. The use of Canaries in British mines was phased out as recently as 1986.

However, Canaries were also used by the first Mercedes-Benz airbag designers. They were often placed in passenger compartments to check for leaks from the airbag.

Canaries have been depicted in cartoons from the middle 20th century as being harassed by domestic cats; the most famous cartoon canary is Warner Brothers' "Tweety Bird".

Norwich City, a English football team is nicknamed 'the Canaries' due to the city once being a famous centre for breeding and export of the birds. The club adopted the colours of yellow and green in hommage.

References

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• Clement, Harris and Davis, Finches and Sparrows ISBN 0-7136-8017-2

External links

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• Sexy Songs Induce Larger Canary Eggs
• Canary videos on the Internet Bird Collection

Heraldic birds | Serinus | Western Palearctic restricted-range endemic bird species

Kanariefugl | Kanarienvogel | Serinus canaria | Serin des Canaries | Kanario | Serinus canaria | კანარის ჩიტი | קנרית | Kanarie | カナリア | Kanarek | Canário | Канарейка | Kanarianhemppo | Kanariefågel | Kanarya