Last Updated on September 6, 2019 by Catherine Tobsing

The zebra finch and canary are the most popular birds kept by pet owners, after budgies and cockatiels. They both also have a long history in captivity, as does the society finch. Let’s take a look at how these birds are alike and how they differ.

 

Similarities

 

If you’re considering adding a finch or a canary to your family, you might be surprised to find that a canary is a finch. So you are only choosing among finches, really. Zebra finches, society finches, also called Bengalese finches, and canaries actually have a lot in common.

 

Though they are both finches, canaries and society finches as we know them don’t actually exist in the wild! Society finches were raised by the Chinese and Japanese for hundreds of years.

 

After all this time raised as captive pets, they have changed from whatever wild finch is their forebear, and they are eminently suited to life in a cage or aviary.

 

Canaries have been kept for hundreds of years as well. The Spanish first started keeping, breeding and trading in the singing finches native to the Canary Islands.

 

Over time, canaries have developed into numerous breeds, none of which bear a resemblance to wild finches anymore.

 

Even though canaries are not found in their pet forms in nature, there is one spot where they have been released and thrive.

 

In 1911 canaries were released in the Hawaiian Islands, and there are still some on the Midway Atoll. Yes, bright yellow “Tweety” birds.

 

The term “canary” for our companion finches comes from the name applied to the Canary Islands, located off the coast of Africa in the eastern Atlantic.

 

These islands were named after the large dogs on the islands, in Latincanaria. So the canary finch is named after the dogs.

 

Canaries, society finches, and zebra finches are all cage birds and wonderful companions – to watch. For the most part, they won’t perch on your finger or obey commands.

 

They will live in flight cages and you will observe them, listen to them and care for them. Because these are mainly caged pets or aviary birds, be sure to provide a large environment for them so that they can fly and have plenty of room to move about.

 

Both finches and canaries do well on a diet based on small seeds, and a formulated diet. In addition, finch keepers usually supply egg food for their companions, and calcium in the form of oyster shell or grated cuttlebone, or chicken eggshells that are dried in the oven and crushed.

 

All of these birds enjoy bathing. It’s simple to encourage them. Put a shallow saucer of water on the bottom of their aviary or cage, and let them go for it. Or try a birdbath.

 

The birds will especially enjoy bathing during hot weather. They air dry fine; bathing stimulates grooming, keeping your finches looking their best.

 

All of these species have been favorites in captivity, and through many years of captive breeding, mutation colors have developed.

 

Society finches range from dark to light browns, white and cream; each one is colored differently, in fact. Zebra finches come in a variety of brown/gray/chestnut and white mutations.

 

American zebra finches are mostly the size of their wild counterparts, about 4 inches long. Zebra finches called “German” or “English” are those that have been bred for exhibition and are often larger or longer than the typical zebra finch.

 

In canaries, there are not only color mutations, but the difference in shapes. Canary breeds have been established, much as in domesticated dogs or cats.

 

Canaries are bred for either their song, color or their type. They range in color from white to gray to red and sherbet-orange. Some have patterning on their feathers, and in the type canaries, their body type and feather quality vary considerably. No, canaries aren’t all plain yellow finches.

 

Differences

 

Though zebra finches, society finches and canaries are all finches, they originated in different parts of the world. We already mentioned that canaries are the descendants of finches from the Canary Islands off Africa.

 

Canaries with a reddish tint are hybrids between these finches and the Venezuelan black-hooded red siskin. These birds feathers can be further enhanced by using color food that contributes to their red color.

 

Society finches were kept in China and Japan, but are sometimes bred to other finches. Zebra finches are natives of the arid Australian desert.

 

One of the big differences among these birds is the fact that zebra finches are sexually dimorphic. At least in their wild, or normal color, the males and females differ in color once they reach maturity at 3 months old.

 

The males have the zebra striping, a chestnut ear patch, chestnut flanks, and bright red beak, while the female is a subdued brown with a lighter colored beak.

 

You can’t tell male and female canaries or society finches apart by color.

 

Each of these companion birds has a different temperament. Society finches are… well, social! They like to be in groups.

 

Though they don’t need a nest box if there is one available they pile up inside it. They have a passive temperament and can be kept with other birds.

 

Zebra finches are “pushy” and may quarrel among themselves; they do like to be kept in pairs and in small flocks, but in a mixed aviary they should be kept with other busybody species.

 

Canaries are territorial and solitary. The best situation for a companion canary is to keep a solitary male for its singing ability.

 

Female canaries rarely sing, and they raise their clutches on their own without a male contributing to chick rearing.

 

Though none of these finches talk, the canary is a fair imitator of sounds. A male can pick up beeps and tones and the calls of other birds as he is creating a repertoire for himself. That is not true of the other two finches.

 

Both the society and zebra finch males also sing, though their “song” is a bubbly, grating, beeping sound. Listen to some on YouTube. Not anything like the trills and melodic songs of canaries.

 

Finch Or Canary For You?

 

It’s a personal choice which species you choose. Consider their housing and song when making your choice.

 

On Facebook, Silla De Gato said, “society and zebra finches are very social — you can toss almost any of them together and they will happily coexist (may have their turf wars but will work it out), canaries can be very territorial.”

 

Ginny Tata-Phillips mentioned supplements to a formulated diet she offers her canaries and finches. “Yes, they eat egg food, but I usually give them crumbled hardboiled egg.

 

They love cooked brown rice mixed with frozen corn.  They love Romaine lettuce but are not too fond of other greens —I have tried parsley, kale and celery leaves. They eat (8 of them) 1/4 slice of whole-grain wheat bread per day.”

About the author: Diane Grindol was the author of Bird Talk magazine’s “Small Birds” column from 1995 to 2012 and has written numerous books dedicated to pet birds, including Amazon.com’s top-selling cockatiel books “The Complete Book of Cockatiels” (1998) and “Cockatiels For Dummies” (2001). Diane is also co-author of “Birds Off The Perch” (Simon & Schuster, 2003), which is a parrot behavior book and parrot owner’s manual. Grindol shares her life with a small flock of cockatiels, a blue-headed Pionus parrot and a guinea pig.

ONE COMMENT ON “FINCH OR CANARY — WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?”

1. Patricia del Valle on June 30, 2013 at 3:30 am said:
2. Thank you, Diane, for this news and somewhat “inside story.”
3. My great uncle kept canaries and was quite devoted to their care. This was in Havana, Cuba where I was raised. And we have relatives in the Islas Canarias.
4. Patricia

Bonus round!

Can you keep two canaries of the same gender in a cage?

Mitch Rezman, SEO/CMO & Avian Influencer @ Windy City Parrot (2003-present)

Answered just now

2 Males – ABSOLUTELY NOT!

When you place two male canaries in a single cage one will die a bloody death.

Canaries are vicious little bastards.

This is why we tell people never to put a mirror in a canaries cage.

The male Canary will guard against the other bird in the mirror and starve himself to death in order to keep the other bird from getting in the cage.

We had an employee who worked at Vahle’s canaries here in Chicago for many years.

He taught us about canaries

I am unable to find pictures of their store.

Vahles closed at the turn-of-the-century but here is a Canary store and as you can see every bird has its own cage

2 females in the same cage is OK.

A small flock mixed-sex canaries may be OK if the cage were large enough.