Domestic canary
The domestic canary is a songbird domesticated from the Atlantic canary and bred for its song, plumage color, and body form.
Atlantic canary: A small finch native to the Canary Islands, Madeira, and the Azores; it is the wild ancestor of the domestic canary. Domestic canaries descend from this species, whose song and appearance breeders developed.
Roller canary: A song canary bred to perform a soft, rolling song with a closed beak. It exemplifies breeding focused on song quality rather than plumage.
Birdsong: Vocal communication produced by birds, often through learned or innate sequences of sounds. Canary song is the trait most closely associated with keeping and selective breeding.
Canary Islands: A Spanish archipelago off the northwest coast of Africa, part of the native range of the Atlantic canary. European sailors encountered the wild bird on these islands and carried it abroad.
European goldfinch: A colorful European finch with a red face and yellow wing bars, sometimes kept for its song. It is another prized singing finch, but belongs to a different species and breeding tradition.
Finch: A small to medium-sized seed-eating songbird in the family Fringillidae. The domestic canary belongs to this family of seed-eating songbirds.
American Singer canary: A canary breed developed in the United States for a pleasing song and attractive appearance. Its breeding combines the domestic canary’s two familiar attractions.
Song learning in birds: The process by which some birds acquire vocal patterns by listening to other birds. Young male canaries develop their songs partly by hearing adult singers.
Madeira: A Portuguese Atlantic archipelago and one of the native regions of the Atlantic canary. Wild populations here, like those in the Canary Islands, belong to the species’ ancestral range.
Zebra finch: A small Australian finch widely studied in research and kept as a cage bird. Unlike canaries, zebra finches are commonly valued for social behavior and scientific study.