The Canary Islands are near the western coast of Northern Africa. They are governed by Spain, which took control of them in the 15th century.
However, the Spanish were not the first visitors to the Canary Islands. Romans visited long before and allegedly named the islands after the large domesticated dogs that lived there. Canis means dog in Latin.
Canary domestication actually began with the Spaniards who were enamored with the songs of the little green birds they found on the islands. They captured the easily tamed birds, and sent them to Spain for profit starting in the late 1400s.
Supposedly, they only sold males creating a scarcity that made canaries expensive and prized by the Spanish aristocracy. However, at some point females got into the market place because by the mid 1500s there are records of canaries being bred throughout Europe.
An intriguing story is that females were introduced to Europe when a Spanish ship carrying a cargo of canaries in the 16th century wrecked off the coast of Elba. Some of the canaries on board escaped the doomed ship to the safety of Elba where they were recaptured and sold throughout Europe.
The precise details of the spread of the canary fancy in Europe will likely remain a mystery. However, there is no doubt that our domestic canaries are descended from birds captured by the Spaniards over 500 years ago.
Look closely at the photograph of wild canaries below and the origin of the American Singers in our aviaries can clearly be seen.
