WHEN YOU
LOOK
Western Bluebird
Atlantic Canary
Kahea Figueira
When you look at this Atlantic Canary you see resilience
This canary is a small song bird native to the Canary Islands, Maderia, and Azores. It weighs no more than an ounce and reaches up to six inches in length. The male bird is bright yellow while Females appear duller with a gray body, but still show yellow parts streaked on their head. The wild canary is very similar to the European Serlin in size and color. Originally, the Atlantic canary was classified as a subspecies of the European Serlin, and assigned to the genus Fringilla.
​
Decades later when the bird was then reclassified into the genus serinus. Another similar trait to the European Serlin is their silvery twittering song. The canary produces metallic, chattering sounds when singing. Their songs are considered to be the loudest of all canary songs while still remaining pleasant. Both the males and females are vocal but the males are more likely to produce a full song. With their bright yellow feathers, and forceful songs this Atlantic canary is able to stand out and contribute as a diverse specimen remaining on the islands.
JUANE
Suitcase magazine
The canary shows adaptability with its ability to live, feed, and nest in an array of environments. They are found in elevations ranging from sea level to mountain tops of 5500 feet. The bird’s diverse living accommodations is mirrored in the island's diverse flora and fauna.
The birds are found in many different habitats on many different parts of the islands. They are known for nesting and feeding in an array of environments. The bird can live in any range from mountain top to sea level but is most commonly found in mid elevations on Gran Canaria. They can nest and feed in places such as sand dunes, cliff sides, pine, laurel, and local forests.
Suitcase magazine
The uniqueness of this canary is credited to the islands which gave it its name: the Canary Islands. The Atlantic Canary is the natural symbol of the Canary Islands. These islands make up the region known as Macaronesia in the eastern Atlantic Ocean. The islands themselves have a distinctiveness to them that is worth exploring.
They are located off the coasts Spain and Portugal containing some of the most diverse species of flora and fauna. The name Canary comes from Latin; the romans called the islands canaria insula meaning “the islands of the dogs”. Expeditions were sent to the Canary Islands by the African king, the sailors on these expeditions saw a mass number of dogs on the islands, hence giving it its name. Interestingly, there has been no evidence of dogs on the island, meaning what they actually saw were monk seals inhabiting the island. The islands itself are volcanic, similar to the Hawaiian Islands and the Galapagos. There are seven major islands in the chain: Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, La Palma, La Gomera, and El Hierro.
The diversity mirrored from the bird’s lifestyle is translated into each island. The Canary Islands get grouped together when talked about, but there are various differences between each of the islands. The island of Lanzarote for example, is geologically the youngest of the islands and still is volcanically active. The entire island is made up of volcanic rocks, leaving no room for trees to grow. The island of Tenerife, the largest island by population and area, is home to the highest point in Spain, mount Teide. La Goma is described to have a terrace landscape, good for farming and agriculture. La Palma is a green and lush island. The diverse landscapes and ecosystems call for diverse wildlife on the islands. Highlighting the differing habitats shows that this Atlantic Canary inhabits traits of adaptability based on the circumstances they were brought up from.
