The Lizard Canary Association

no one knows now and never will,the origin of the lizard is lost to history,but the fact that old books describe the lizard as having a bronzy yellow would suggest a hybrid with a bird carrying a red factor in its genetic makeup,but there are those who say it was a mutation not unlike the opaline in budgerigars,and the bronzy yellow was due to colour feeding,any one with historical facts ie old books may clear up this debate,but for now lets hear youre opinions.

another one that is right up paul avenue.......

to look at the history of a species is a lovely pastime but i do personally think that helping maintain and expand the limited pure stock we have in the world today far more relevent.
i know of only 1 other bird showing spangling like a lizard and thats the turtle dove but when was the last time you see one ???????
since the collored dove was imported its been made resessive and mostly bred out and id hate that to happen to our lizard canary

ttfn andy

In HERVIEUX'S LIST (1713) the Lizard is described as Serin Agate commun. (Common Agate Serin) and given that Agate supresses brown so that only lipochrome (or ground colour) and black are expressed in the feather , tends to lend credence to this. Subtle silver colouring is also a trait of Agate .

Hervieux also lists ;
Serin Agate aux yeux rouges. (The Lizard with pink eyes, showing cinnamon origin.)
Serin Agate à queue blanche, race de Panachez (Slightly variegated Lizard Canary with white tail.)
Also the Serin Panaché de noir-jonquille et regulier. (Regular variegated canary, black and yellow: The London Fancy Canary?)

Given my belief that all modern day canaries originate from the cinnamon (not the 'norwich' cinnmon we see toady ) the agate mutation would supress the brown colouration . I also belive that there have been a cross over of recessive sex linked genes to create what we know as the lizard today .
Just my opinion but I'd look to agate so would say mutation rather than hybrid. The fact that the lizard moults paler with each passing year is eveidence of cinnamon inheritance .

Regards Paul.

dont worry andy i know where youre coming from ,to me theres nothing more beautifull than a non cap gold cock,the first type of lizard i ever saw,but i also love coloured canarys and without a little mix an match we would only have the normal green canary.

to be honest john of all the colours available in canaries my fav is a pure green. a yellow green fife or border or even a little hoso is a real joy to me.
sadly one of the main reasons i no longer keep norwich canaries is the fact that we have to colour feed the greens...into horrible dirty bronze things and no-one wants to buy green fife or borders...which i find baffling as a clear bird from 2 greens will be fantastic for type and ground colour.

as for the lizard well what can i say...we think alike as i like nothing better than a noncap gold cock. iv been lucky to breed 2 in the last 4 yrs ...1 in 2005 (which dave DTA kindly took a pic of for me at the east anglian all lizard.... 3rd best novice) and 1 last yr that did really well for me ..winning his class at every show including the classic apart from 1...so 6 out of 7 aint to bad.

ttfn andy