Long a popular cage bird, the domestic canary was developed from a wild ancestor, Serinus canaria, of the Canary Islands, Madeira, and the Azores. It belongs to the family Fringillidae, order Passeriformes, suborder Passeres. The wild bird is about 12 cm (5 in) long and mainly a streaky olive green. The brightly colored domestic varieties were developed by selective breeding to enhance chance variations in color as well as for unusual size or for the sweetness of the song.
Canaries do well in captivity if kept in cages with perches and with clean sand on the bottom. They are fed a mixture of small seeds augmented by fresh green food. Larger cages are required for breeding. Pairs will breed readily during early spring if provided with a nest container, nesting material, and food supplements. The female builds the nest and incubates the eggs, while the male feeds her. The chicks hatch after about 13 days, are fed by both parents, and leave the nest after about 3 weeks.