Bye Bye Birdie!

Yesterday I drove from Apopka to Cocoa (an hour and a half) and handed over two adults, four eggs, and two adorable nearly 5-week old weened chicks.  I only wanted one canary and now I own only one canary.

Let's back up a few weeks:
When the chicks were just 14 days old, we took our annual week vacation at Cocoa Beach.  You can't exactly leave chicks with a neighbor at this stage, and so they got a vacation too.  I was delighted to meet Mega Bird Store owner Donna when I drove into town for some birdie supplies.  I was already feeling overwhelmed feeding and cleaning up after three chicks and two doting parent canaries, as I knew this scenario would repeat itself in just a few short weeks; Canaries typically have two clutches a year.  Donna asked me if I'd consider selling.  Well, YES!  First I needed to wait for the babies to mature, so I left with her business card.

Knowing I only wanted to own one canary, I went home and pondered which bird to keep.  Keep the adult male, a proven singer?  I would have loved to, but this was not a possibility, as he is a great daddy bird and feeds mommy bird while she nests, then feeds the chicks almost single-handedly (beakedly?) from about 1 week until they are weened at around 4 weeks old.  Although the chicks were weened, Jo already laid a second clutch and I could not separate him from Jo and the current nest of 4 eggs (due to hatch around June 27th) and so I chose the yellowest of the three babies, Chick #2, chosen not only for his color, but also because he seems the most laid back and I need a little bird that will roll with the punches, handle the changes in locale and care takers, as I travel a lot.  He will either  ride along or will be left behind with family or friends.

Chick #2 - no name yet

They say you cannot tell when a canary is a female until she lays an egg.  And you cannot tell if a canary is male until eggs hatch!  Other than a pricey blood test, there is no scientific way to tell the sex your bird as all the parts are hidden away inside.  Non-scientific signs point to the three canaries I had as all male: longer middle toe than females have, hides in nest with head down and tail up when just feathering (girls sit there and stare at you), tries a few notes of a trill, and has vibrant colored feathers. All signs point to males.  But then again, some females share the same physical traits and mimic males in song.

The deed is done, the birds are all gone but one and now I wait to see if this little yellow bird will sing as pretty as his father sings.  This morning I played some YouTube canary songs (it's good training to give canaries something nice to imitate) and my lone bird listened intently, clung to the side of the cage and cheeped and chirped and strung a few notes. When I played his daddy canary's song, my lone birdie got very animated.   It's a beginning, but nothing that would knock your socks off.  Time will tell.

Chicks 1 and 3 - Parting Photos

Please forgive my fingernails.  I had a manicure after these were taken.  Also please forgive the difference in color intensity.  Light/shadows/camera flash seem to make a big change in feather color.  I took the pictures of the birds as I moved them from the big cage to a temporary little cage so I could clean the big cage before transporting them to the Mega Bird Store for sale.

Both of these two chicks have the same facial markings - white bandit masks.  The older Chick #1 is a bit more yellow, stands erect, and has rounder eyes that appeared black upon hatching.  Chick #3 has less yellow, has sleepy eyes (like his mom) that were pink upon hatching, and Chick #3 likes to puff up and sit low.  This could be remnants of him being the baby.  Both are alert and cheerful.  Both showed positive non-scientific signs of being male, and both are vocal with cheeping and peeping.  One of them actually stood erect at his food bowl, stretched tall and puffed out his neck while trying to string together a few notes several times, but by the time I got to the cage to figure out which bird it was, they swapped places several times.  It was impossible to tell them apart from across the room.

Chick #1

Chick #1

Chick #3

Chick #3

Chick #3

Chick #3
with a dot of food on his tail

New Clutch - Laid June 13-17
Should hatch June 26-30

Chick #1

Meet the Fam

Chick #1, slim and reserved. Stands tall.

Chick #2, laid back and loves the swing.

Chick #3, curious and needy, but he is 3 days younger.
His feathers matured and smoothed the next day.

This video is of the youngest Chick #3 begging a meal from the male parent.  The other two are so insistent, it looks like a fencing match, with the chicks making all the advances!

Daddy bird is bright eyed and friendly.  He is small and his yellow feathers look so intense against white feathers.  He has the sweetest soft feathers that fluff out from his chest in front of his wings. He is first when I put a plate of food on the floor of the cage, probably because he is the main baby feeder. He loves boiled eggs!

Mommy bird is quiet and calm, almost sleepy.  Her feathers look white until she bathes and the yellow under feathers show up.  She LOVES to splash around in the tub and if I don't put one in, she climbs into the water bowl.  She will take the first bath, preen and dry, then goes in again.  She likes green leafy veggies.

The babies started showing interest in food today.  I tried to slip up and take a picture of them eating, and #1 hurried to a corner to hide, pretending if his back is away from me and he cannot see me, then I cannot see him.  Chick #2 continued eating (see photo above), then flew up to his swing for a nap. Chick #3 hopped up to his father's perch and begged for food, fluttering and being all babyish.  Like mommy bird, all three babies seem larger than their slight daddy bird.  As soon as they grow longer tails, it will be difficult to tell them apart, especially Chick #1 and daddy bird.  He has the same little chest fluffers as his father, so sweet.