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Serinus canaria

Common Canary

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General Information

COMMON NAMES: Common Canary, Island Canary; German Kanarengirlitz

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Canary Islands

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Not naturalised; Land, Cagebird

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Ornamental pet

KEY FEATURES: A small bird, to 15cm long. Colour pale yellow with near white wings and tail. Bill thick and pink. Breed from birds with darker feathers. Other popular varieties are: Crested Canary with a tuft on its head; and Red Factor a brilliant red hybrid.

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea:
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
+

Northern Group:
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
			-

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Serinus canaria
TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); TETRAPODA; AVES; NEORNITHES; Passeriformes; FRINGILLIDAE, Carduelinae

More Information

GENERAL NOTE: The domesticated birds live for about five years, the male is famous for its soothing call. They were formerly used in coal mines to indicate the presence of dangerous gases. Some were released on Midway Island in 1911 and they were reported as still common in the wild in 1989. Those released on Kure Island but failed to establish. [Pratt, et.al. The Birds of Hawaii and the Tropical Pacific]

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: five imported in 2001 by Anna Nelio assisted by daughter Charleen Nelio, with NZDoC ID as Serinus canaria, later given to Ata Herman.

References:
None recorded.

Data Update History (information):
zB02, zD02

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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