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WHEN THE CANARY TURNED YELLOW | Science and life

Now the most common breeds of canaries are yellow, “canary” color. But it was not always so.

In 1495, the Italian artist Giovanni Pietro da Birago, illustrating a handwritten Latin textbook for the young Duke Sforza, first depicted two yellow canaries.

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colors. Sailors called them “Canarian birds”. But when such a modest-looking bird opened its beak, bewitching sounds poured out of it.

Wonderful singers (only males sing among canaries) quickly fell into favor with the royals of Europe. The birds were so rare that it was not considered shameful for the king to send such a gift to another monarch. Canaries were kept in gilded cages. They were inaccessible to ordinary people. Although birds were caught and sent to the continent by the hundreds, the Canary birders and their intermediaries specifically traded only males so that no one could breed valuable birds. In 1555, the German zoologist Konrad Gesner noted in his work “History of Animals”: “These birds are very expensive everywhere, firstly, because of their sweet voice, and secondly, because they are brought rarely, from afar, with great they are carefully looked after along the way, so that they are accessible only to high-born persons.

Although the Spaniards tried to keep females out of Europe, however, since both sexes are similar in appearance, some females still ended up among the imported goods. Germany became the breeding center, and until recently it was believed that it was the Germans who bred the yellow canary. This opinion was based on three drawings of canaries discovered in the 1920s in a rare German book on birds published in 1610. Two were normal, grey-green, and the third had white wings and extensive yellow spots all over the body. From this, ornithologists concluded that a mutant specimen of the canary was found around that time, and since the first written mention of yellow canaries dates back to 1677, it is obvious that the breeding of yellow birds took several decades.

Now we know that the color of canary plumage is determined by several independent genes, which makes it unlikely that a yellow mutation will appear in a wild population, especially in a relatively small one: there are now about 160,000 wild canaries in their homeland. So the breeding of the yellow bird could well take several decades.

However, a recent discovery by the English ornithologist Tim Birkhead showed that the canary may have turned yellow two centuries earlier than the generally accepted date. He found a handwritten Latin textbook, illustrated with miniatures, written around 1495 years for Duke Maximilian Sforza, who was then 5-6 years old. The powerful Sforza family ruled Milan for almost a hundred years. Two drawings depict typical yellow canaries, and in one of them the bird is fed with a panicle of millet, a favorite food for canaries. So for the first time yellow canaries were bred in Italy. But most likely, says Birkhead, this line just died out. The dukes could hardly lend such a rare bird to others for crossing and breeding, especially since, as already mentioned, there were almost no females in Europe. And the German breeders had to start crossing and selecting from the beginning, on their own.

canary | it’s…

What’s a canary?

CANARY ; pl. genus. -rail, dates. – rails; f. [from French. canari] songbird fam. finches, with bright yellow plumage, common as a house bird. Buy a canary. Keep canaries in a cage.

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canary

a bird of the finches family. Length 12-14 cm. Lives in the Canary Islands (hence the name), the Azores and on about. Madeira. In the XVI century. brought to Europe and domesticated. Many breeds of decorative and beautifully singing canaries have been bred, capable of onomatopoeia.

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CANARY

CANARY, a bird of the finches family ( see finches). In nature, a common bird in the Canary Islands, the Azores and the island of Madeira. In the 15th century, it was brought to Europe and domesticated. Many breeds of decorative and beautifully singing canaries have been bred.

Wild canary (Serinus canaria) is a small bird (body length 12-14 cm). The plumage of the male is grayish-green with dark longitudinal streaks, greenish-yellow on the abdomen. The plumage of the female is dull grey. Indigenous habitats are, apparently, mountain forests. However, the bird has fully adapted to life in the cultural landscape and settles in gardens, parks, hedges, etc. In its homeland, the canary is a migratory bird and only in the south leads a sedentary lifestyle.

Feeds mainly on small seeds, delicate greens and juicy figs. He loves to swim very much. Birds flock to the water in flocks to drink and swim, while they strongly wet the plumage. Nests are made in trees. Clutch contains 3-5 eggs. The female incubates. The male usually sits at the ends of branches and sings during the entire nesting period. The song of the wild canary is pleasant, but poorer and less sonorous than that of the domestic one. Wild forms, in comparison with domestic ones, do not have such a variety of coloring and singing.

The birds got their name from the name of the group of the Canary Islands, from where they were taken out by the Spanish colonizers. These islands were the center of fishing and export of canaries, although wild canaries were found on the island of Madeira and the Cape Verde Islands. Four hundred years ago, canaries did not have the variety of shapes, colors, and songs that their domestic descendants are famous for. The unpretentiousness of the canary and the fashion for overseas curiosities made this bird very popular among Spanish youth at one time. The singers were paid a lot of money. Thanks to the rapid development of navigation, the fame of these birds soon reached many European countries. But in the 15th and 16th centuries, the canary was still a rare bird in Europe and was valued very dearly.

The ability to adopt the songs of other birds, the relative ease of breeding and keeping made the canary a favorite of man. Of particular interest to the canary appeared after individuals of yellow color appeared in the offspring of ordinary green birds. Such a transformation, associated with a change in the conditions of existence, occurred almost simultaneously in many European countries in the 17th century. This gave impetus to the development of selection work. A great variety of different breeds and color forms have been bred. Among them there are white, yellow and motley canaries, canaries of normal build and birds on disproportionately high legs with special feather collars. Fans of different countries are breeding canaries in accordance with their tastes. In England, they managed to bring out varieties of original shapes and colors, for example, “humped”, orange-red with dark green wings (nervous), giant Manchester. In Russia and Germany, large light yellow (whitish) canaries are preferred.

In Germany, the Adreasberg on the Harz became the breeding center for canaries. Harz canaries became famous for their fluted tune, echoing Tyrolean songs. Such singing of birds was taught with the help of pipes and organ.

The canary was brought to Russia from Germany in the 17th century. Until 1917, canary breeding was one of the most important sources of income for the population in Russia. Canaries were bred with a peculiar oatmeal tune.