How To Care For a Canary

Make sure your canary’s cage is the biggest you can afford, with room for at least two fixed perches and a swing. Canaries love a change in perspective.

Provide your bird with an ever-present supply of high-quality seed mixture that’s been specially prepared for canaries. The main ingredient in the mixture should be listed as “canary grass seed.”

In addition to a good seed mix, offer your canary a variety of dark, leafy greens every day. Unlike kids, canaries are great at eating green stuff—they like raw or cooked veggies, too.

Canaries need a good vitamin-mineral supplement every day. Mix this in with their food.

Just as with your kids—or yourself—skip the junk food. “Bird treat sticks” and the like are just empty calories.

Provide your canary with both a water bowl and a birdbath. Canaries are big water-lovers: they’ve got to have a constant source, both for drinking and for daily bathing.

Make sure your feathered friend has plenty of entertainment in the form of swings and bird toys. Canaries especially love to shred toys made of rope or feathers.

Change the lining of your canary’s cage every day, if possible, and give the whole cage a thorough cleaning once a week. Better cage hygiene equals better health for your canary.

Keep the cage in a quiet spot that is at least partially shaded and is sheltered by a wall on one side so your canary feels safe. Canaries sleep when the sun goes down, so if the room does not get very dark at night, cover the cage with a blackout cover.

Canaries love company! The more you can interact with your canary, the better. Make a point of visiting her cage to “talk” with her as much as possible, and encourage your friends and family to do the same.