|
written by Marie Miley-Russell
copyright 2007,
all rights reserved by the author
Song development in American
Singer canaries begins at hatching. As he develops in the nest he listens
carefully to the songs of all adult males singing in the aviary and studies
the notes and compositions of his father especially (if the father is caged
with or closest to him). The young male will begin singing by 6 weeks of age
- occasionally a chick will even begin singing in the weaning cage. Most
chicks will be enthusiastically burbling away by two months of age. (The
gurgling, burbling, and general babbling sounds young chicks make is
referred to as "baby song".)
American Singer canaries are bred first and foremost for one thing- to
sing - and the song drive is very, very strong in them. For this reason,
young AS hens often sing and singing older hens are not uncommon. Due to
this, sexing American Singers before the age of six months is sometimes
difficult.
It is vital if one is to breed top quality Singers that one understand
the importance of early song training. Song training must begin immediately
upon hatching- if you have no tutor birds or your adult males are not
singing while they are caged with hens in the breeding cages, you must play
high quality song tapes. Any old song tape will not do- the songs must be of
he highest caliber that you can acquire.
The window during which a young canary will learn from a taped song is
very small- wild bird song studies have suggested that the maximum time
during which a young bird will learn from a tape is about five weeks. After
this, the birds are able to distinguish between taped song and "live" song
and show a distinct preference for learning live song. Most experienced
breeders use high quality tutor birds for teaching new song to young males
and reserve song tapes for helping males become accustomed to different
songs during formal show training.
The only information I have ever come across about how much of a canary's
song is genetically inherited and how much is learned came from Linda
Hogan about German Rollers. She indicates that approximately 75% of a
canary's song is genetic and 25% is learned. It is my suspicion that
American Singers may have a higher proportion of learned song in their
repertoires as they do not have hundreds of years of line breeding behind
their songs, but I have never seen any research about the subject.
American Singers are more likely to learn new notes than many other
breeds of canary and should be exposed only to those sounds which are
pleasing and musical. For this reason, segregation of American Singers from
other breeds of canaries (or other birds) is vital. American Singers can be
housed with Waterslagers and Rollers as their notes are not a problem
(indeed, the water notes sung by the Waterslager are prized) - but the
chopper songs of type and colorbred canaries will quickly damage the song of
American Singers and ruin them for exhibition. That said, there are some AS
which seem incapable of learning new notes- good or bad- their genetic song
is all they ever sing. These birds seem unaffected by being housed with
other birds. Overall, however, American Singers are more likely to mimic
whatever they hear- I have heard of a few which imitate the sound of a
telephone ringing and I personally own a bird which sings the opening bars
of the song "Low Rider", which my husband whistles frequently.
Canaries also have a period during the molt when they are soaking up new
song- if there is any point during which one might try to introduce new
notes into one's aviary it is during the molt. Breeders hope each year that
tutor males will not begin molting too soon or come out of the molt too late
to fulfill their tutoring responsibilities! Many second-year males will
emerge from their first full molt with a very different song than that which
they sang during their first year. After the second year, the song is "set"
for the most part. (For this reason, purchasing year old birds for tutors is
inadvisable as often the young "tutor" learns the song of the new aviary
rather than teaching his song.)
Some canaries develop very young. These "child prodigies" mature weeks,
even months, before their fellow canaries and sound fantastic before the
song contests even begin in early fall. Unfortunately, they tend to peak
long before the end of the show season and are in hard song before the shows
are finished for the year. These birds also tend to have less quality song
than some of their more slowly developing peers, who spend a longer period
of time in song study before setting their songs. (Song study is the period
of time during which young birds are learning and trying out new notes and
renditions. During this period, a young bird's song is "plastic" and changes
frequently as he works out his favorite tunes. )
On the other end of the spectrum, some canaries develop too late- needing
a year or more to develop completely. These birds require a considerable
investment of time, energy, and resources while they slowly mature. This can
be a problem if one tends to sell young birds or if one has no space to
house and feed these males until they reach maturation.
It is a fact that some of the most renowned American Singer breeders in
the club's history have shown mostly old birds (those which are in their
second year or older). This is due to the better quality of an older bird's
song. An older bird's song tends to be more polished and developed.
Additionally, older birds seem to possess a greater level of composure when
in the show cage.
For more information about
Judging of the
American Singer Canary and
American Singer
Canary Song, follow the links.
Return to the articles page.
|