Editing Atlantic canary

{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{About|the wild bird|the cagebird|Domestic canary}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Atlantic canary
| image = Serinus canaria -Parque Rural del Nublo, Gran Canaria, Spain -male-8a.jpg
| image_caption = Male in Gran Canaria, Spain
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2018 |title=''Serinus canaria'' |volume=2018 |page=e.T22720056A132137153 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22720056A132137153.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref>
| taxon = Serinus canaria
| authority = ([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]])
| synonyms = ''Fringilla canaria'' {{small|Linnaeus,&nbsp;1758}}
}}

The '''Atlantic canary''' ('''''Serinus canaria'''''), known worldwide simply as the '''wild canary''' and also called the '''island canary''', '''common canary''', or '''canary''', is a small [[passerine]] [[bird]] belonging to the [[genus]] ''[[Serinus]]'' in the true finch family, [[Fringillidae]]. It is native to the [[Canary Islands]], the [[Azores]], and [[Madeira]]. It has two subspecies: the wild canary or common canary (''Serinus canaria canaria'') and the [[domestic canary]] (''Serinus canaria domestica''). Wild birds are mostly yellow-green, with brownish streaking on the back. The species is common in captivity and a number of colour varieties have been bred.

This bird is the natural symbol of the Canary Islands, together with the [[Canary Island date palm]].<ref>{{cite act |type=Ley |index=7/1991 |date=30 April 1991 |title=Símbolos de la naturaleza para las Islas Canarias |trans-title=Natural Symbols for the Canary Islands |url=https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-1991-16276 |language=es |via=[[Boletín Oficial del Estado|BOE]] |volume=151 |pages=20946–20497}}</ref>

== Description ==
The Atlantic canary can range from {{convert|10|to|12|cm|in|abbr=on}} in length, with a wingspan of {{convert|21|to|23.7|cm|in|abbr=on}} and a weight of {{convert|8.4|to|24.3|g|oz|abbr=on}}, with an average of around {{convert|15|g|oz|abbr=on}}.<ref name=bwpc>Snow, D. W. & Perrins, C. M. (1998). ''The Birds of the Western Palearctic'' concise ed. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-854099-X}}.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://genomics.senescence.info/species/entry.php|title=Tubeworm (Lamellibrachia) longevity, ageing, and life history|website=genomics.senescence.info}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thesprucepets.com/pet-canaries-1236727|title=A Canary Is an Ideal Pet Bird for Beginners|website=The Spruce Pets}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/content/16/1/2.full.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150718190213/http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/content/16/1/2.full.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2015-07-18 |title=Rapid Radiation of Canaries |website=mbe.oxfordjournals.org }}</ref><ref name = "CRC">''CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses'' by John B. Dunning Jr. (Editor). CRC Press (1992), {{ISBN|978-0-8493-4258-5}}.</ref><ref name="Clement">''Finches and Sparrows'' by Peter Clement. Princeton University Press (1999). {{ISBN|978-0691048789}}.</ref> The male has a largely yellow-green head and underparts with a yellower forehead, face and [[supercilium]].<ref name=finches>Clement, P., Harris, A., & and Davis, J. (1993). ''Finches and Sparrows''. Helm {{ISBN|0-7136-8017-2}}.</ref> The lower belly and undertail-coverts are whitish and there are some dark streaks on the sides. The upperparts are grey-green with dark streaks and the rump is dull yellow.<ref name=Atlantic>Tony Clarke, Chris Orgill & Tony Dudley (2006) ''Field Guide to the Birds of the Atlantic Islands'', Christopher Helm, London.</ref> The female is similar to the male but duller with a greyer head and breast and less yellow underparts. [[Juvenile (organism)|Juvenile]] birds are largely brown with dark streaks.

It is about 10% larger, longer and less contrasted than its relative the [[European serin]], and has more grey and brown in its [[plumage]] and relatively shorter wings.<ref name=bwpc/>

The [[Bird vocalization|song]] is a silvery twittering similar to the songs of the European serin and [[citril finch]].<ref name=bwpc/><ref name=finches/>

== Taxonomy ==
The Atlantic canary was classified by [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]] in 1758 in his ''[[10th edition of Systema Naturae|Systema Naturae]]''. Linnaeus originally classified the Atlantic canary as a subspecies of the European serin and assigned them to the genus ''Fringilla''. Decades later, Cuvier reclassified them into the genus ''Serinus'' and there they have remained. The Atlantic canary's closest relative is the European serin, and the two can produce on average 25% fertile hybrids if crossed.

=== Etymology ===
The bird is named after the Canary Islands, not the other way around. The islands' name is derived from the Latin name ''canariae insulae'' ("islands of dogs") used by [[Arnobius]], referring to the large dogs kept by the inhabitants of the islands.<ref name=oed>''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]''</ref> A legend of the islands, however, states that it was the conquistadors who named the islands after a fierce tribe inhabiting the largest island of the group, known as the 'Canarii'. The colour [[yellow|canary yellow]] is in turn named after the yellow [[domestic canary]], produced by a mutation which suppressed the melanins of the original dull greenish wild Atlantic canary colour.

== Distribution and habitat ==
[[File:Serinus canaria -Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain-8 (1).jpg|right|thumb|Juvenile on [[Gran Canaria]], Canary Islands, Spain]]
It is [[endemism|endemic]] to the Canary Islands, Azores and Madeira in the region known as [[Macaronesia]] in the eastern [[Atlantic Ocean]]. In the Canary Islands, it is common on [[Tenerife]], [[La Gomera]], [[La Palma]] and [[El Hierro]], but more local on [[Gran Canaria]], and rare on [[Lanzarote]] and [[Fuerteventura]], where it has only recently begun breeding.<ref name=Atlantic/><ref>Clarke, Tony & Collins, David (1996). ''A Birdwatchers' Guide to the Canary Islands''. Prion, Huntingdon. {{ISBN|1-871104-06-8}}.</ref> It is common in Madeira including [[Porto Santo]] and the [[Desertas Islands]], and has been recorded on the [[Savage Islands]]. In the Azores, it is common on all islands.<ref name=Atlantic/> The population has been estimated at 80,000-90,000 pairs in the Canary Islands, 30,000-60,000 pairs in the Azores and 4,000-5,000 pairs in Madeira.<ref name=bwpc/>

It occurs in a wide variety of [[habitat]]s from [[pine]] and [[laurel forest]]s to sand dunes. It is most common in semiopen areas with small trees such as [[orchard]]s and copses. It frequently occurs in man-made habitats such as parks and gardens. It is found from sea-level up to at least 760&nbsp;m in Madeira, 1,100&nbsp;m in the Azores and to above 1,500&nbsp;m in the Canary Islands.<ref name=bwpc/>

It has become established on [[Midway Atoll]] in the northwest [[Hawaiian Islands]], where it was first [[introduced species|introduced]] in 1911. It was also introduced to neighbouring [[Kure Atoll]], but failed to become established there.<ref>Pratt, H. Douglas; Bruner, Philip L. & Berrett, Delwyn G. (1987). ''A Field Guide to the Birds of Hawaii and the Tropical Pacific'', Princeton University Press, Chichester.</ref> Birds were introduced to [[Bermuda]] in 1930 and quickly started breeding, but they began to decline in the 1940s after [[scale insect]]s devastated the population of [[Bermuda cedar]], and by the 1960s they had died out.<ref>Amos, Eric J. R. (1991). ''A guide to the Birds of Bermuda''.</ref> The species also occurs in [[Puerto Rico]], but is not yet established there.<ref>American Ornithologists Union (1998). ''[http://www.aou.org/checklist/index.php3 Checklist of North American Birds] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211170240/http://www.aou.org/checklist/index.php3 |date=11 December 2007 }}'', 7th ed.</ref> They are also found on [[Ascension Island]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nature Notes – Atlantic canary |url=https://www.ascension.gov.ac/nature-notes-atlantic-canary |access-date=2024-07-09 |website=Ascension Island Government |language=en-GB}}</ref>

== Behavior ==

=== Reproduction ===
[[File:Serinus canaria MHNT 223 Tenerife 2000m pin RdN.jpg|thumb|Eggs of ''Serinus canaria canaria'' [[Tenerife]] [[MHNT]]]]
It is a gregarious bird which often nests in groups with each pair defending a small territory. The cup-shaped [[bird nest|nest]] is built 1–6&nbsp;m above the ground in a tree or bush, most commonly at 3–4&nbsp;m.<ref name=Atlantic/> It is well-hidden amongst leaves, often at the end of a branch or in a fork. It is made of twigs, grass, moss and other plant material and lined with soft material including hair and feathers.<ref name=bwpc/>

The [[egg]]s are laid between January and July in the Canary Islands, from March to June with a peak of April and May in Madeira and from March to July with a peak of May and June in the Azores. They are pale blue or blue-green with violet or reddish markings concentrated at the broad end. A clutch contains 3 to 4 or occasionally 5 eggs and 2-3 broods are raised each year. The eggs are [[egg incubation|incubated]] for 13–14 days and the young birds leave the nest after 14–21 days, most commonly after 15–17 days.<ref name=bwpc/>

[[Inbreeding depression]] occurs in ''S. canaria'' and is more severe during early development under the stressful conditions associated with hatching asynchrony.<ref name = deBoer2015>de Boer RA, Eens M, Fransen E, Müller W. Hatching asynchrony aggravates inbreeding depression in a songbird (Serinus canaria): an inbreeding-environment interaction. Evolution. 2015 Apr;69(4):1063-8. doi: 10.1111/evo.12625. Epub 2015 Apr 8. PMID: 25689753</ref>  Hatching asynchrony leads to differences in age and thus in size, so that the environment of the first hatched is relatively benign, compared to that of the last hatched.<ref name = deBoer2015/>

=== Feeding ===
It typically feeds in flocks, foraging on the ground or amongst low vegetation. It mainly feeds on seeds such as those of weeds, grasses and [[ficus|fig]]s. It also feeds on other plant material and small [[insect]]s.<ref name=bwpc/>

== See also ==
* [[List of animal and plant symbols of the Canary Islands]]
* [[Domestic canary]]
* [[Australian plainhead]]
* [[Harz Roller]]
* [[Red factor canary]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons}}
{{EB1911 poster|Canary}}
* [http://ibc.lynxeds.com/species/island-canary-serinus-canaria Canary videos, photos & sounds] on the Internet Bird Collection

{{Taxonbar|from=Q192524}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Serinus|Atlantic canary]]
[[Category:Birds of the Canary Islands]]
[[Category:Birds of Madeira]]
[[Category:Fauna of the Azores]]
[[Category:Birds of Macaronesia]]
[[Category:Birds described in 1758|Atlantic canary]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus|Atlantic canary]]
[[Category:Birds of Africa]]