
Originally Posted by
5borders
Aggression in Canaries
The question has come up as of late multiple times so I thought I’d address it simply because it appears a lot of people are not aware of this aspect or the reasons behind it.
Aggression is twofold.
1- Canaries are simply, solitary creature. In the wild or native land, they only come together for mating period. Canaries sing to attract a mate and to establish a territory. They do flock, but only as individuals then they go their own way. They pair up to mate then apart again. For years, even centuries, people caged canaries in small cages because they sang more. This is again, establishing territory and attempting to attract a mate. People/humans must stop thinking about canaries as needing a mate or partner. This is human thoughts not canaries. They are perfectly happy alone and prefer it. You will be their flock and placed where they can see the goings on in the house is perfect, as long as it is close enough but not intrusive to the birds need for safety and feelings of being safe. Again, singing is to announce, I am here and this is my territory, stay out, or if you’re female, hear my strong song, come hither. Any others who enter will do so knowing there will be a fight.
2- The other aspect is genetic. Here I am speaking of canaries only, although I assume all birds this holds true, but I am referring to specific scientific studies done on canaries. Each egg laid, one a day, gets between 2-6% more testosterone added, via the hen. She will internally add the testosterone a little at a time, proven in regard to environmental stresses and the ability to sustain the species. This is simply because, the last egg to hatch the chick will be smaller and thus have to fight harder for food, against his/her larger siblings, again simply to fight for food and survive. The hen through evolution has built in a safety for the smaller chicks by adding a small amount of testosterone. Now think about it, the forth egg may have as much as 10% more testosterone than the first, when it hatches. For breeders this is easy to follow. We see the last to hatch, keep records, and when banding the birds usually band largest to smallest or even must revisit the smallest to place a band on it. Defined as, the larger ones legs will hold and the smaller will not, so we must wait a day or two for it to catch up. So for those who ask, “The parents are so calm, why is this bird so aggressive compared to all the rest”? Well I just stated the answer, and if you purchase your birds from good breeders, they can say, this is the youngest of the clutch. Purchase anywhere else, no one will know or be able to tell you. Good thing is, these birds are great for breeding, and also as singers, bad part is they are no good for community living or aviaries. Again you take a bird that has a higher testosterone level and a bird pre-disposed for solitary living, you get a little rascal. Now does this fact enter into if 4 eggs are laid and only one hatches, answer is yes, again each egg gets a little higher dosage, even if the others do not hatch. Well unless it’s the first laid, but I don’t know of anyone who marks eggs, they just follow chicks. If you have an aggressive bird, this is why, it was born this way and knows no other way to be.
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