Do canaries have to constantly gnaw like parrots?

[Mortisha]

My canaries seem to spend all day snipping the leaves off every bit of shrubbery I put in the aviary.

Seems like they are doing it for recreation

I’ve tried pine and eucalyptus branches as I thought the taste might put them off – but it hasn’t.
I think they just get excited by the new big project whenever I put in a fresh branch.

They get fresh greens & veges etc everyday.

Does that mean canary aviaries are usually bare and it is not a good idea to try for a planted aviary with them?

[vettepilot_6]

I had 3pr Canaries in an aviary with quite a few plants & finches...but although they liked to nibble stuff plants were never naked...

[mattymeischke]

I have a nectarine and a pear tree in one of my big aviaries, with about 5 pair canaries as well as various other birdies. When the new growth comes through in spring, the canaries hammer it relentlessly, but they seem less fussed on the mature foliage. In early spring when there is only new shoots they are capable of keeping up with the production of new leaves, and the trees suffer accordingly.

I use net orange bags or bird netting to protect them for a few weeks, then take them off when the foliage has had a chance to get more mature. They don't eat much, so once there is a good volume of foliage the trees can tolerate some light canary grazing.

I have used coniferous and Eucalyptus loppings for brush and I've never seen them eat that; maybe it is because they have an embarrasment of preferable nibblies....

[Diane]

Ive had a mini tree reduced to bare branches by finches, so canaries arent the only ones who like the challenge of stripping a tree bare!

[djb78]

Yes I've had canaries stripe trees to just branches, as they got older they seemed less interested in stripping the leaves, finches can be just as destructive as well.