Serinus canaria
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
The Atlantic canary (Serinus canaria), known worldwide simply as the wild canary and also called the island canary, common canary, or canary, is a small passerine bird belonging to the genus Serinus in the true finch family, Fringillidae. It is native to the Canary Islands, the Azores, and Madeira. Wild birds are mostly yellow-green, with brownish streaking on the back. The species is common in captivity and a number of colour varieties have been bred.
This bird is the natural symbol of the Canary Islands, together with the Canary Island date palm. The Atlantic canary was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. He placed it with the finches in the genus Fringilla and coined the binomial name Fringilla canaria. In 1555 the Swiss naturalist Conrad Gessner had used the Latin name Canaria for the species in his book Historia animalium. The Atlantic canary is now one of eight species placed in the genus Serinus that was introduced in 1816 by the German naturalist Carl Ludwig Koch. The species is considered to be monotypic, with no subspecies being recognised; domesticated canaries are sometimes cited as...
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pico Island Natural Park (Azores) | 🇵🇹 Portugal | |
| 2 | Teno-Rasca Marine Strip (Tenerife) | 🇪🇸 Spain |
Very likely
About 90% of wildlife watchers report an Island Canary sighting in Pico Island Natural Park (Azores) on a given day, based on 1,655 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 2nd most-seen of the 53 birds we can rate there.
January–June and October–November
In those months over 90% of wildlife watchers report an Island Canary in Pico Island Natural Park (Azores) on a given day, against about 80% in August, the lowest month.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Island Canary sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 2 parks where we can rate Island Canary sightings, Pico Island Natural Park (Azores) has the highest daily chance: about 90%. Next come Teno-Rasca Marine Strip (Tenerife) (Spain, about 60%).
Same family: Fringillidae
The closest relatives of the Island Canary that you can see in Pico Island Natural Park (Azores) (family Fringillidae, Finches, Euphonias, and Allies) are Azores Chaffinch (about 90%), Eurasian Goldfinch (about 50%) and European Greenfinch (about 40%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Island Canary is recorded against all the birds logged in Pico Island Natural Park (Azores) (1,655 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
