The Roller Canary
~ A site for Roller Canary enthusiasts
What is a Roller Canary?
Once known as "The German Roller" (because of the country that these famous singers originated in), the "Roller Canary" is also called "The Opera Singer" of all Canaries due to it's ability to bring joy to the millions of people worldwide that have been lucky enough to hear it's song.
The Roller Canary was so named because of the way it "rolls" out the various notes of its song. The Roller Canary can sing up to twelve different song renditions which should always hold a soft mellow tone. The best Rollers will earn top points when graded by a judge at annual shows- usually held in the fall. Because of very strict standards and regulations, the Judge never knows who the owner of the bird is during the contest. In the "Northern Hemisphere" shows are usually held in November. The prizes, ribbons and trophies awarded at these shows are a challenge for even the best of breeders to win. Despite this, anyone with a good young Roller can steal top prize and gain recognition in this "sport" or "fancy". Although the number of people that compete their birds at these events has decreased in recent years, there is still great demand for these valuable birds due to their ability to sing such sweet rolling tours.
To know if you have a genuine Roller Canary you will have to first check to see if you have one that has been registered by using a "closed" band on its leg. A closed band is one that has been placed on his leg at a very early age (of about a week old) and cannot be removed without cutting and destroying either the band or the leg itself. You can identify the year of hatching, the registered number of the bird, the breeder's club initial and sometimes the breeder's number as well.
To learn the Roller song will need to hear it sung.
The
Dominion Roller Canary Association has a song page with sound
samples. You should listen to as many variations of the song as you
can to gain a clear understanding of the song.
In the near future I will have song descriptions with sound examples on this site and will offer a training CD for training young Rollers to use for competition training them for shows.
This site is only days old, so you will need to check back for more content in the fall and winter.
History Lessons
If you want to know more about the origin of this popular little songster, then you will be happy to find much information on the Roller Canary posted on this site in the near future. I will have some information coming from an Ancient collection of books that I acquired as well as from publications that have been out of print for decades.
In the meantime, you can inquire about the World's leading publication on the Roller Canary by following this link to the DRC News website.
