• Welcome to Avian Avenue! To view our forum with less advertisments please register with us.
    Memberships are free and it will just take a moment. Click here

How much light/darkness for a Canary?

Rædwalda

Strolling the yard
Joined
5/24/21
Messages
105
I have read online that it's recommended Canaries get 10-12 hours of darkness, and that some people cover their cages in the evenings to give them more darkness.

It doesn't make much sense to me, as if they are from the Canary islands they should be used to more than 12 hours of light per day, as far as I know the only places that get 12+ hours of light per day are in the northern hemisphere during the Wintertime, which is far from their natural habitat and conditions in the wild.

When I bought my Canary a few months ago, she was apparently 2 years old and living in an uncovered breeding cage that had light from sunrise to sunset, and so far I have kept up that pattern by dimming the lights in the room at about 8pm and then turning them off at around 10.30pm.

Does that sound wrong to you? What do you guys do about this and do your habits change with the seasons, i.e less light in winter?
 

expressmailtome

Ripping up the road
Administrator
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
4/15/10
Messages
49,992
Real Name
Matthew

Rædwalda

Strolling the yard
Joined
5/24/21
Messages
105
I have read online that it's recommended Canaries get 10-12 hours of darkness, and that some people cover their cages in the evenings to give them more darkness.

as far as I know the only places that get 12+ hours of light per day are in the northern hemisphere
This sentence should read "12+ hours of darkness per day are in the northern hemisphere"
 

Flyfisher

Moving in
Joined
6/8/21
Messages
7
Real Name
Flyfisher
I cover my canary at 7:30 pm. and the cover comes off at 7:00am. I may be wrong but that's how I do it. He seems happy.
 

Solly

Strolling the yard
Joined
6/14/21
Messages
148
I have read online that it's recommended Canaries get 10-12 hours of darkness, and that some people cover their cages in the evenings to give them more darkness.

It doesn't make much sense to me, as if they are from the Canary islands they should be used to more than 12 hours of light per day, as far as I know the only places that get 12+ hours of light per day are in the northern hemisphere during the Wintertime, which is far from their natural habitat and conditions in the wild.

When I bought my Canary a few months ago, she was apparently 2 years old and living in an uncovered breeding cage that had light from sunrise to sunset, and so far I have kept up that pattern by dimming the lights in the room at about 8pm and then turning them off at around 10.30pm.

Does that sound wrong to you? What do you guys do about this and do your habits change with the seasons, i.e less light in winter?
hey there, unless you are wanting to breed then I really dont bother. They wake up,at dawn and go to sleep at dusk. I just try not to disturb them too much when they are sleeping.
the only other time would be if you have hens who keep laying, adjusting th light levels then can help.
 

Rædwalda

Strolling the yard
Joined
5/24/21
Messages
105
After doing a bit of research, I have decided to invest in this little bird lamp, which gives them full spectrum and UVB lighting:

Arcadia small bird lighting

It only cost me £45 on ebay. I have a plug socket timer and will set it so the light comes on at 1pm and then switches off at about 5pm and keep that up all year round, otherwise the bird will be in the dark when I get home in the winter, which won't be good as I'll be switching the bedroom light on.

Some people say not to bother with lighting at all, but I have read that glass windows filter out some of the benefits of sunlight, imagine a person who never left their bedroom, they would probably be very pale.

I don't want to run up too high an electric bill, so I guess I'll give my bird 4 hours per day, from 1-5pm. She already has a good diet and lots of time out of the cage looking out of the window, flying around, and bathing, so I'm hoping this will be enough.

I'll get some pics or vid when it arrives on Wednesday.
 
Last edited:

Rædwalda

Strolling the yard
Joined
5/24/21
Messages
105
Got my lamp today, looks really good, bird seems to like it.

Oh yeh, she won't be in this cage forever, I bought her on 21 May this year so she's been in there less than three months. Have to say she does seem quite happy in there, though. She comes out for an hour at least once per day, twice or more on weekends and always returns to her cage when she's done.

IMG_20210811_175147692.jpg IMG_20210811_173829796.jpg
 
Last edited:

finchly

Cruising the avenue
Avenue Veteran
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
5/16/14
Messages
12,708
Location
SW Florida
Real Name
Finchly
That’s a long cage!

Pretty canary.
 

FrogsGoMoo

Meeting neighbors
Joined
7/6/21
Messages
53
Real Name
James
My thoughts exactly. Looks like 2 cages put together lol. I feel that cage is fine, could be taller, but when you watch her, does it look like she's restricted height-wise? But she's a gorgeous red!
 

Rædwalda

Strolling the yard
Joined
5/24/21
Messages
105
It's an old breeders cage without the divider in the middle. The height is just about enough, length is really nice, she looks very comfortable on her perches at either end and flies between the two, but also likes the lower perch in the middle which is now her sunbathing spot. She also uses the bamboo cane running the length of the cage at an angle, also have some external perches near the entrance.

Still deciding what to do about getting her a partner, or some other birds for company, or keeping her by herself. Not sure yet.

She was sold to me as a female, but did start singing a bit when I played bird song on youtube (I have another thread on that). And does sing regularly when I let her out.

I checked her vent for the first time yesterday (11 August) and she appears female to me. I'm not sure if I was too late in the season.
 

finchly

Cruising the avenue
Avenue Veteran
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
5/16/14
Messages
12,708
Location
SW Florida
Real Name
Finchly
Like real singing? As in Youtube type canary songs? If so I don't think that's a female.

You can put her with another hen or some finches. I think all birds need friends that speak their language. :)
 

Rædwalda

Strolling the yard
Joined
5/24/21
Messages
105
Like real singing? As in Youtube type canary songs? If so I don't think that's a female.

You can put her with another hen or some finches. I think all birds need friends that speak their language. :)

Hello Finchly, thanks for replying.

She isn't as good as the Canaries I am listening to on Youtube right now. Would it help if I try and get videos of her singing and upload them somehow?

I think she copies the Nightingales that I was playing to her as she makes some similar sounds.

I could get another Hen, or Finches, just undecided yet. They definitely won't live in the same cage, I will just keep them next door to her, and let them out together during time out ("outty-outty- time" we call it).

Do you think another hen, or a male would make better company for her?
 
Last edited:

finchly

Cruising the avenue
Avenue Veteran
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
5/16/14
Messages
12,708
Location
SW Florida
Real Name
Finchly

Rædwalda

Strolling the yard
Joined
5/24/21
Messages
105
Yes that would help.

Fun times!
Ok, I'll get some videos over the weekend, as she doesn't sing that much, usually when I play bird song on youtube which makes it difficult to make a recording. I'm out tomorrow, but hopefully I can get some videos up by sunday night or monday.

She definitely doesn't sing like the birds on youtube.
 

Rædwalda

Strolling the yard
Joined
5/24/21
Messages
105
Ok, I managed to get a video of some of her singing this morning. It's not her best, but it gives you some idea of her skill.

The vid is just over a minute. She starts with chirping at the beginning, then at the 30 second mark she breaks into a bit of song, then after landing on the ground at 45 seconds, she starts another type of song. You have to turn it up quite loud to hear it properly. I'll get more better vids in future, perhaps using a voice recorder app, instead of my camera, perhaps that might produce better sound without all the feedback.

I can't upload it to here, so I put it on dropbox:

Raedwalda singing

I'll try and get more soon.
 

finchly

Cruising the avenue
Avenue Veteran
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
5/16/14
Messages
12,708
Location
SW Florida
Real Name
Finchly
What a confusing bird. I think she’s a girl, but she wants to sing. Her chirps almost sound like society finches! The little cricket sound they make.
If she were younger I’d say a boy that hasn’t developed his repertoire yet! LOL
 

Rædwalda

Strolling the yard
Joined
5/24/21
Messages
105
I have read online that it's recommended Canaries get 10-12 hours of darkness, and that some people cover their cages in the evenings to give them more darkness.

It doesn't make much sense to me, as if they are from the Canary islands they should be used to more than 12 hours of light per day, as far as I know the only places that get 12+ hours of light per day are in the northern hemisphere during the Wintertime, which is far from their natural habitat and conditions in the wild.

Does that sound wrong to you? What do you guys do about this and do your habits change with the seasons, i.e less light in winter?
This sentence should read "12+ hours of darkness per day are in the northern hemisphere"
Just wanted to update this thread, as it seems I am mistaken, the days do get quite short in the Canary Islands during the Winter season, to as little as 10 hours 22 minutes, according to this website I found which will let you look up the sunrise and sunset times any place in the world since 2001:

Sunrise and Sunset in Canary Islands

I thought people might find this useful.
 
Top