Did you know that canaries have been bred to be pets for about 500 years? Their gift (Or possibly their curse) is the lovely territorial song of the male.

The original wild canaries were from the Canary Islands and were a drab green color. But with all the human breeding interference canaries now come in a rainbow of colors, from bright yellow to pink. Some of these don’t have nearly as pretty a voice as the original green ones, though. That’s because they’ve been bred solely for their appearance and not their song.

One of my favorite canaries is the Gloster canary; with a “hairdo” that reminds me of the early Beatles!