Canary cage size and taming

Question
How big should a cage be for one?

Can canarys be tamed enough to sit on a shoulder or hand? Can there wings be clipped for taming?  

Answer
Canaries are easier to tame than finches because they're calmer, for the most part.  I've heard of many canaries tamed enough to come to their owners hand and fly around outside of the cage.  They're not cuddly in the way parrots (and even hand-fed finches) can be, but they like to interact with their owners.  Canaries also do better when kept alone than finches, because they're naturally somewhat solitary when not breeding.

As with the finches, I wouldn't recommend a full wing-clip, but a light wing-clip might hurry along the taming process.

Also, if you find a canary breeder, ask them if they would consider hand-feeding or just simply handling a baby in the nest to get it accustomed to people.  Some breeders are happy to do this, and even if you have to pay a small fee for the breeder's time, it'd probably be well worth it if you're after a tame bird.  Sometimes canary breeders have to hand-feed anyway, if a mother canary abandons the nest or can't care for the chicks.

About cage size, it's important that a canary have room to fly, so I always put the minimum cage size at two feet long - once again, depth and height are less important, minimum would be about 10" deep and 14" high.

- Lara
psitta@yahoo.com