Animal-World > Birds > Canary Varieties > Gloster Fancy Canary

Gloster Fancy Canary

Gloster Canaries:
Gloster Corona ~ Gloster Consort

Family: FringillidaeGloster Corona (crested) CanarySerinus canariaPhoto © Animal-World: Courtesy Denise Taormina

   The Gloster Fancy Canary, a favorite among both expert and beginning enthusiasts, is one of the most popular canaries!

Gloster Consort Canary
(variegated variety) Photo © Animal-World:
Courtesy Denise Taormina

   The Gloster Fancy Canary is a perfect choice for the beginner as it is lively, very hardy and will readily breed. As with most canaries it is basically a cage bird, but quite enjoyable to observe. They have a pleasant song, though folks who prefer a song canary may find it a bit louder and more choppy than they prefer.

   As a "type canary", the Gloster Canary is bred for physical appearance rather than color or song. These attractive little birds have a roundish compact body and are quite lively and bold.

   The Gloster Canary actually has two versions, the crested bird (shown above) is known as the 'Corona' while the plain headed bird is known as the 'Consort'. Though the crested version is favored at shows, both types are of equal importance in the propagation of this breed. Other than the feathers on the head, the basic body types are the same for both versions of this bird.

For more information about the care of Canaries see:
Guide to a Happy, Healthy Canary

Geographic Distribution Serinus canaria Data provided by GBIF.org Scientific Classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Actiniform Class: Elasmobranchii Order: Passeriformes Family: Fringillidae

Scientific Name: Serinus canaria domesticus

Distribution:    The Gloster Canary is a relatively new breed. Unlike older breeds, the Gloster's development in England in the mid 1920's has been well documented indicating that it is a careful blending of three breeds; the crested Roller Canary, the small Crested Canary, and the Border Canary.
   The Gloster Canary was the result of attempts to develop a miniature crested breed. Mrs. Rogerson's of Cheltenham in Gloucestershire (the breed's namesake) crossed crested Roller Canaries with Border Canaries while John McLay, a well known breeder and judge of Crested canaries in Scotland, crossed small Crested Canaries with small Border Canaries.

At the Crystal Palace exhibition in 1925, Judge A. W. Smith recognized Mrs. Rogerson's original strain as a new, unique, and distinct breed. He went on to encouraged development of the Gloster with the blending of the three different breeds, and he later developed the first breed standards.

Description:    The Gloster Fancy Canary is a small, short stubby, canary reaching about 4 1/2" (11.5 cm) in length. It is an active, lively, semi-erect, proud bird. The Corona (crest) bird should have a round symmetrical crest with a center point. The crest should have no interruptions, radiate evenly, and not cover eyes. The Consort (uncrested) head should not be too small and should reveal a light brow line.
   The Gloster's plumage occurs in all canary colors and markings, except the Red-Factor colorings. Green and cinnamon are two popular varieties, along with the frosts (buff) being favorites for show varieties. Any with red coloring on their bodies are rejected in shows.

Gloster Consort Canary
(blue variety) Photos © Animal-World:
Courtesy Denise Taormina

Care and feeding:    Canaries like wide open spaces so provide a roomy cage. Provide a cage with vertical bars and small perches of different size for foot exercise. Have at least 1 perch set high in the cage for the canary to roost (sleep). The cage should be placed high, so the canary can look down on us so to speak.
   Canaries eat mainly canary seed and rape seed. Vitamin coated canary seed mixes are readily available at a pet store. Greens are also enjoyed and can be offered daily along with a little calcium in the form of a cuttlebone.
   They do like to bath, so should be offered a bird bath. Cage cleaning and toe nail trimming is about all the maintenance canaries need.
   See About Canaries: Housing and About Canaries: Care and Feeding for more information.

Social Behaviors:    They are good-natured social creatures that do well when kept in cages or in aviaries. They are timid birds though and should not be housed with parakeets, lovebirds, or other hookbills that tend to be more aggressive birds by nature.
   Male canaries should be kept in a cage by themselves to ensure quality singing. Males can be territorial and pairing up with two male canaries in a cage can cause fights. In a spacious aviary canaries can generally be housed with other canaries, finches, and other hardbills.

Activities:
   Canaries do not require toys, mirrors or any other form of entertainment, a swing is all they need to keep themselves occupied. Most of the time, canaries are simply enjoyed for their beauty and singing. However, some canaries are allowed out of their cage to perch or are show canaries and therefore require taming or training.
   See About Canaries: Handling/Training for information on taming and training.

Breeding/Reproduction:    Canaries breed easily and readily if provided with quality food, lighting, secure surroundings, and conditioning. They are best bred in breeding cages.
   Breeding the Gloster Canary is no different than breeding colorbreds or any other variety of canary... with one exception, Glosters should only be bred corona to consort (see description above). Other pairings could create a lethal factor and there have also been reports of bald headed birds and poor crests.
   They lay their eggs in a nest. The female will lay 3 to 6 eggs, one per day. Breeding season is usually from December to April; it is best to allow a hen to have only two clutches.
   See About Canaries: Breeding/Reproduction for more information on breeding.

Potential Problems:   These birds are hardy and healthy if provided with a good environment and a good diet. Avoid an environment that is wet, cool, and drafty. One problem that occasionally arises with Gloster Canaries are feather lumps. Feather lumps are an ingrown feather, where the feather attempts to grow out, but cannot break the skin so will grow backwards.
   See About Canaries: Potential Problems for information on health.

Availability:    Gloster Canaries are readily available and are fairly inexpensive. Sometimes available at pet stores, but more readily they can be found through bird shows, bird clubs, breeders, and on the internet.

Authors: Clarice Brough, CAS and Denise Taormina

Lastest Comments on Gloster Fancy Canary View all 6 comments on Gloster Fancy Canary Add Your Comment

Cristian - 2009-10-16 Sint un pasionat de canari si as vrea sa achizitionez un mascul si doua femele din rasa Gloster,numai de la un crescator ! Chartric - 2012-01-09 Thank you so much for this airtlce, it saved me time! Reply

John Ashforth - 2010-04-11 I live and work in Dursley, Glos, UK. I work in a nursing home and have established an aviary for the Residents. They love to sit in the garden and watch the birds. I would like to introduce Gloster Canaries to the aviary. Is there a local breeder that can offer me some birds. I can pay (but not a lot, we are a charity organization).We are part of The Order of St John Care Trust. Reply

M Andrade - 2010-04-28 Hi, I have two canaries, one female for sure and the other is a corona head canary. Here is the issue, he doesn't sing, and I have not see "him" interested in her. This morning we discovered two eggs, and both are sitting in the nest. Is this normal parents behavior or they are two females? Please advise. The pet shop assured me it was male. chris - 2010-12-18 You definitely have 2 hens, unless you have experience with birds, the only way to tell 100% is the cocks whistles, the hen just chirps. Leila - 2011-08-10 The same thing happened to me once. The petshop insisted that it was a cock but both of them were building a nest and they laid eggs and both sat on them! Of course it never hatched so I purchased a cock bird and the resulting chicks grew into beautiful birds! Yes, the cock only sings and the hen chirps. rgtgge - 2011-10-01 if its a male it sings if its a female it does not! Reply

mal williams - 2010-01-19 My gloster hen was about 3 yrs old, we took it to the vets to have her nails cut and apple removed from her breathing holes on her beak. Sadly its heart stopped beating and it died. We noticed about a week before this it would fall off its perch and land at the bottom of its cage. The vet said it sounds if it had a underlined heart problem, does anybody know about this problem. We all miss it badly. Its name was flash. The reason I say it, we were told its a hen, but it sang beautifully all the time and was told hen's dont sing. R.I.P.FLASH. Joe Delceppo - 2011-01-12 Sorry you lost your gloster in an unfortunate way. I have a hen canary, laid eggs and hatched plenty last season. Prior to the breeding season she also sings as much as a male. I know it is not so common but it happened. Joe Delceppo MARIO VELLA - 2011-03-02 Yes hens do sing sometimes but very low in their sound and very rear. I have one to that sings. Please write to me and be my friend. MARIO FROM MALTA mal williams - 2011-03-17 Dear Joe & mario. Thank you both for your kind words even though its been over 12 months since we lost Flash she is still thought of and talked about, We have since got 3 more canaries but sadly one of them called Bart has also passed away. The two that we have are called Patch and Spot. Patch chirps a lot while Spot sings just like Flash did so we won't forget Flash. Mal patti palmer - 2011-07-24 I just lost my gloster canary about an hour ago..I am so heartbroken myself..this bird sang so beautifully and I just have to get another one..the silence is killing me..If you know of somewhere to purchase another one or I find a place let's keep in touch..the tears are falling as I write this. So sorry about your loss...I know your pain...I live in Pennsylvania and will let you know if I find a breeder.... mal williams - 2011-09-01 hi PATTI.So sorry about your canary hope you have got another one as you get attached to the birds and they become one of the family we got another bird but that died in december last year so we got 2 canaries 1 hen 1 cock and they sing and talk to each other all the time. we got the birds because of the silence and they both have thier own ways and give us so much joy. we still talk about FLASH and BART alot and is still missed by us. we set up a fund trust with the rspb in flash and barts name and donate monies when we can Reply

laura - 2010-05-03 How to know I have male or female bird - canary? Kathryn Lee - 2011-07-30 I purchased 2 Glosters Canaries, 1 crested, the other is not. How can I tell which is the male? Thank You Charlie Roche - 2011-07-30 To the fella with the gloster canaries....A crested should be bred to an uncrested - corona to crested). Corona or crested does not have anything to do with male or female. Now the hard part - just because it does or does not have a crest, it has nothing to do with being a male or a female. With or without the crest, it can be a male or a female. It is diffult to determine the sex - without DNA sexing. That said, usually the top of males head is flater than the females head. The female usually has a roundeness to the top of the head while the male head is flatter. I am also told that usually female Canaries have 3 evenly lengthed toes, while middle toe of male Canaries is usually longer than the two outside toes. Males are a little more colorful and they are the ones who are doing the singing. Females chirp. Good luck. Most breeders would be pretty accurate at determining male/female. Reply

bill - 2011-02-21 Where can I buy a glouster canary? I am in delaware. Reply

Add your comment!

View all 6 comments on Gloster Fancy Canary

Back to Canary Varieties