Hi there, I know it sounds silly but as there are many colors of Canary I was wondering if this made a difference to the bird. Is a certain color smaller? Calmer? etc. I read somewhere that the fife canary is the smallest of the canary family but now I cant seem to find where I saw it so am wondering if I imagined it! Plus not only the colors but does it really make a difference if its a fife, Gloucester etc to their personality and singing?
I would be interested to hear what you think. Many thanks

Canaries are bred either for type, colour or for singing and yes fifes are the smallest.

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Ditto to what hawksport said.
A canaries temprament will depend on it's breed, not it's colour. And yes, there are certain breeds that are calmer, bigger or better singers than others.

Could you let me know which type you think I should go for as a first time canary owner? Which is smallest and calmest? Advice appreciated thanks.

Sorrry never kept any of them myself.

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Do you want a canary that sings well? And active or a more sluggish one? How many are you going to keep? Do you plan to breed them? Are you looking for a fancy canary or is a plain one ok?
I hope you understand that keeping canaries is not as simple as it seems. Unless you have a decent-sized aviary (at least 2x1 metres in diameter and 2 metres high), you will have to give you canaries exercise everyday by letting them fly around a room. And if you're keeping a single canary (which I don't advice you to), you will have to give it a lot of attention everyday.

Gloster: very tame, lively, confident and sweet-natured; lovely refined singer, tolerant of small African finches. Stocky shape; very thick feathers (See Bruce, the Gloster Canary)

Border: similar to Gloster in nature but louder, less sophisticated song and incredible yellow colour. A bit slimmer than the Gloster.

Roller: very anxious bird, which I gave away to someone with an aviary because I thought he'd be happier there. This could have been becuase of how he was reared, though. Highly unusual song, not to everyone's taste. Slim shape.