Canaries

by Alexander Wetmore

During the time of molt a few linseeds added to the seed supply are believed to give gloss and sheen to the new feathers. Linseeds should be given in small quantity, as they are injurious if eaten in excess. Meal worms fed occasionally are beneficial for birds that are not thriving. A craving for animal food may be satisfied by bits of raw steak, but it is not well to continue feeding raw meat for any length of time, as it may cause a foul odor about the cage. Delicate birds may be fed canary, rape, and hemp seed soaked in cold water for 24 hours, rinsed, and then drained. Maw seed (poppy seed) is favored by English canary fanciers as a stimulant, but its use must be guarded, as it may be poisonous to other animals, including man.

During the breeding season egg food must be given daily as soon as the birds are paired. This is prepared by mincing an entire hard-boiled egg or passing it through a sieve, and adding to it an equal quantity of bread or unsalted cracker crumbs. This may be given to unmated birds as well at intervals of a week or so. When female canaries begin to incubate, egg food may be fed every three or four days or even less frequently. Addition of brown sugar in small quantity to the egg food is supposed to prevent egg-binding in young females. When the young hatch, egg food should be supplied at once. Some recommend that the yolk of a hard-boiled egg be given alone for the first day. Bread crumbs are added to this daily until on the third day egg food as ordinarily prepared is supplied. Attempt should be made to regulate the supply of egg food or other soft food so that it will be eaten without waste. The actual quantity will vary in individual cases. The usual seed supply should be present, no matter what other food is given. Egg food must be given until the young are fully grown and able to crack seed for themselves. Cracked seed may be fed to lighten the labor of the parents, but it is well to eliminate hemp from such a supply, as the hull of hemp seed contains a poisonous substance that occasionally kills young birds. Drinking water should be available to canaries at all times.

BATHING.

Under normal conditions most birds probably bathe daily, and canaries in captivity should be allowed the same opportunity. In open wire cages in common use for singing birds the base is removed and the cage placed over a small dish containing water. In open-front cages in which the bottom is not detachable small bath cages which fasten at the open door are used. These are only a few inches wide but serve to hold a dish for water. Many birds are notional in bathing and at times ignore the offered bath. Usually the process of cleaning the cage and renewing the seed and water will excite in them a desire for bathing, and often when a bath is not provided the bird will do its best to perform its ablutions in the small supply of water in the drinking cup. When individual birds obstinately refuse to enter the water, if enough clean sand to cover the bottom is placed in the dish they bathe more readily. After the bath the water may be drained carefully and the sand left to dry in the dish for use another time.

Birds brought into strange quarters may refuse to bathe for the first few days. When water is offered they either ignore it or sitting on a perch go through the motions of bathing and drying, fluttering wings and tail with a great whirring of feathers. The bath should be offered whenever the cage is cleaned, and if left alone the birds will act normally after a few days.

Small china or earthenware dishes that are not too deep make good bathing pans. When a bird becomes accustomed to one dish it will usually refuse to bathe in another of different shape or color. In winter the water should be warmed until tepid. Even in warm weather very cold water is not advisable. If the room, ordinarily warm, becomes cold temporarily, birds should not be allowed to bathe. With the plumage wet and bedraggled there is increased susceptibility to cold drafts. During molt the bath should be given not more than twice each week. If the bird is molting on color food, one bath each week is sufficient. The female canary should not be allowed to bathe from the time the eggs hatch until the young are 3 or 4 days old.

MOLT.

Canaries renew their covering of feathers once each year. In adults this molt occurs late in summer, and the first sign of it may be the presence of a wing or tail feather on the bottom of the cage. These large feathers are shed in pairs, so that one from either wing or from either side of the tail is dropped at approximately the same time. Never in ordinary circumstances does the canary have the wing and tail entirely devoid of large feathers. This provision is of no particular significance in a cage bird, but enables wild birds to maintain their powers of flight. The bodily covering is renewed piecemeal as well, so that except about the head there is normally no extensive area wholly devoid of feathers at any time. Some birds drop a few of the body feathers all through the year, a symptom that need cause no anxiety.

With breeding birds the molt usually comes immediately after the breeding season and may begin as early as the latter part of July. Normally it comes during August, and on the average should be at its height in September. Young birds molt the juvenal body plumage after leaving the nest, but retain the first growth of wing and tail feathers for a year. In healthy birds the entire molt requires about two months.

Canaries usually need no special care during molt. Though in an abnormal bodily state at this time, healthy individuals will come through the period in good condition. Birds are somewhat dull and stupid when molting and should be disturbed as little as possible. Bathing may be permitted once or twice each week, but if birds do not wish to bathe they should not be sprayed with water. It is well to add egg food or moistened bread to the ordinary fare once or twice each week during molt. For ailing birds a very slight quantity of sulphur may be added to the egg food, or a weak saffron tea given instead of pure drinking water. A few linseeds in the seed supply give a gloss and sheen to the new feathers not otherwise obtainable.