How to tell if canary is a male or a female?

By Editor

A visitor, Sabrina, emailed this question: 

“HOW DO YOU TELL IF THE CANARY IS FEMALE OR MALE? I BOUGHT A YELLOW CANARY AND IT’S HARD TO TELL IF IT’S A BOY OR GIRL. SHE DOESN’T SING LIKE A MALE DOES.”

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Hi, Sabrina!

Usually, the males sing and not the females.  However, we’ve had females that sound like they were singing.  They would trill and tweet kind of like a male canary.  It’s really difficult to tell a male from a female until breeding season.

To check, and if you’re feeling brave enough to hold your canary, gently blow on its vent to move the feathers so you can see it’s underbelly.  The male will have a penis like a very small swelling next to the vent.  If the vent is smooth and round, torpedo-shaped, then it is female.

More experienced breeders can tell just by looking at their birds if they have other canaries of same type and colour to compare it to.  It may be more difficult to sex younger canaries. Hope this helps!