AUSTRALIAN FIFE CANARY

Canaries which are called "Blue Canaries"

In Australia a man with red hair is often called "Blue". Well the Blue Canary is not really blue either and no its not red as in the above analogy.
The Blue is really a slate or dark steel grey or even gunmetal but definitely not Blue like a clear Blue Budgerigar.
Blue is a White Canary which has the Brown and Black melanin over the top of White.
If the same bird had Yellow under instead of White then it would be called Green.
You can have various degrees of variegation just like all other Canaries.

How to Breed a Blue

The easiest way, is to start with a good Blue Canary and breed it back against a Clear Buff or Yellow. The odds are that 25% of the young will be Clear Yellow or Buff, 25% would be White, 25% would be Blue, and 25% would be Green. As not only genetics but luck plays a part, the ratio is not always the same.
The other way is to use a good quality Green and breed back against a White. Now the results in theory are the same ratios as using the above method however the Blue will be only as good as the Green and no better, and often not as good. To breed a Self Blue (Self means no other coloured feathers), you would start with a Self Green. The better and clearer the colour of the breast the better, and the better and more clearly seen the pattern on the back the better.
Don't forget to check out the rules with respect to breeding White as those rules are important.

Author: J Hart - Published 12/11/04

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