Australian Plainhead
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The Australian plainhead is a breed of
domestic canary The domestic canary (''Serinus canaria'' forma ''domestica''), often simply known as the canary, is a domesticated form of the wild canary, a small songbird in the finch family originating in the Macaronesian Islands. Over the past 500 years ...
that was created for show purposes. The variety was developed through
selective breeding Selective breeding (also called artificial selection) is the process by which humans use animal breeding and plant breeding to selectively develop particular phenotypic traits (characteristics) by choosing which typically animal or plant m ...
and remains the only breed of canary created in Australia.


History

The Australian plainhead has its roots in the old style Norwich canaries that originated in
Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...
, England and became a popular show variety in Australia. In the 1930s, differences between the older show standard used by the breeders of
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...
, Australia and the more modern standards of the UK, created a bitter divide amongst Australian breeders of the Norwich canary. Decades later, after the modern Norwich had largely displaced the old-style birds from the Victorian show scene, a club was started in 1953 to preserve the old breed which was renamed the Australian plainhead. By 1991, the number of Australian plainhead canaries in Australia had dropped to around 460 birds. Whilst the Australian plainhead remains a rare breed, it is now far more widespread with birds being bred throughout Australia and in the US.


Showing

The Australian plainhead is a "type canary", which is mainly judged for its shape (referred to as ''type''). Despite this, the breed is also noted for its colour and feather quality. Australian plainhead may be green, blue (grey), yellow, white, cinnamon, fawn and variegated. Show birds may be "colour-fed"
carotenoid Carotenoids () are yellow, orange, and red organic pigments that are produced by plants and algae, as well as several bacteria, archaea, and fungi. Carotenoids give the characteristic color to pumpkins, carrots, parsnips, corn, tomatoes, cana ...
s during molting which gives new feathers an orange hue, but this is optional. The birds are shown in a box style show cage with a white interior.


Breeding

Australian plainheads typically breed well with basic care and attention. While many other large canary breeds require foster pairs to rear their offspring, Australian plainheads are good feeders and usually rear their own young.


See also

*
Atlantic canary 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, Fringillid ...
(wild canary) *
Domestic canary The domestic canary (''Serinus canaria'' forma ''domestica''), often simply known as the canary, is a domesticated form of the wild canary, a small songbird in the finch family originating in the Macaronesian Islands. Over the past 500 years ...
* Harz Roller, another breed * Red factor canary, another breed


References

{{Reflist


External links


home.iprimus.com.au
Aviculture Bird breeds Serinus