There’s no worse feeling for a canary owner than their beloved pet “flying the coop” and escaping their cage.
This is the kind of thing that pet bird owners absolutely dread. Thankfully it happens a lot less than most would think.
But if you have a “runaway canary” situation on your hands and are worried about how to find your beloved bird you’ll want to pay close attention to the inside information highlighted below.
Let’s jump right in!
Has Your Canary Gone Missing?
Keep Cool, Keep Calm
The most important thing to do when you notice your canary has gone missing is to keep cool and keep calm.
As soon as you start to panic, as soon as you start to rush, and as soon as you start to operate purely on emotion is the moment that your odds of finding your canary and bringing them back home safely plummet.
These beautiful birds can pick up on the energy and the vibes distraught owners are putting out. And rather than act as a homing beacon those signals start to push them further and further away.
On top of that, you’re much more prone to make poor decisions (like opening doors and windows you shouldn’t be opening with a bird on the loose) when you are stressed out and anxious.
Stay cool, stay calm, and stay collected.
Don’t Open Any Doors or Windows
The next piece of the puzzle is (obviously) making sure that you don’t open any exterior doors or any windows.
Having a canary lost in your home is stressful enough as it is. But when you start to wonder if your canary slipped out of a door behind you or poked out of a window that was left open things can get far worse.
In fact, it’s a good idea to double-check all of your windows and doors just to make sure that they are shut and locked from the inside.
You don’t need a well-intentioned visitor throwing a door open and letting your canary scoot outside on accident!
Hunt Every Nook and Cranny of Your Home
Canaries are absolutely beautiful birds, with gorgeous color and wonderful personalities – but they also aren’t exactly the biggest birds in the world, either.
These birds love to tuck away and hide in little nooks and crannies, especially when they are stretching their legs and enjoying a little bit of freedom that they wouldn’t have had inside of their typical enclosure.
It’s important to try and think like a bird as much as possible, really trying to envision the way that they see the world and where they might have been drawn to.
Look behind and underneath furniture, on the other side of curtains and light fixtures, and anywhere else you could imagine your canary squirreling away.
If your bird isn’t in any of those spots it’s time to do another walk-through in your home, this time checking spots you couldn’t possibly imagine your bird getting into.
More often than not that’s where you’ll find them!
Get Their Enclosure Cleaned Out and Filled with Food
If after a full search of your home you still haven’t been able to find your canary it’s a good idea to get their enclosure completely cleaned and spotless as well as filled with food and water.
You can either leave your enclosure where it usually is (allowing your canary to find their way back home, so to speak) or you can choose to put their enclosure in a more centrally located space with the doors wide open so that your bird will be encouraged to hone in on that.
You might even want to try calling your canary by name, whistling, or repeating familiar words, phrases, and sounds that you use with your bird on a regular basis. This may coax them out of their spot and back into their enclosure, too.
Has Your Canary Escaped Outside?
Let’s say, for a moment, that your canary was able to escape outside, though.
Don’t let yourself feel with dread – there are still lots of opportunities for your canary to come right back home, slide inside of their enclosure, and leave you both a little smarter for the adventure outdoors!
Try and Keep Your Bird in Your Line of Sight
First, you’ll want to try and do absolutely everything you can to keep your bird in your line of sight.
Finding your bird outdoors becomes a whole lot harder when you lose sight of it even for just a moment. But if you can keep them in your field of view you’ll be able to track their move every step of the way, especially when they finally decide to slow down, pull up, and stop on a roost somewhere.
Call Your Canary
Canaries are highly social birds and respond really well to the voice of their owners, particularly when they are calling their name, using sounds that are familiar with them, or using unique whistles that you have trained them with.
Pull out your whole bag of tricks to try and get them to return to you as quickly as possible.
Put Their Cage Next to an Open Window
If you are still having a tough time coaxing your bird back home you may have to give them a chance to return all on their own (though with a bit of encouragement).
Bring their cage and enclosure as close to them as possible, trying to keep that enclosure as close to your home as possible, too.
Fill the cage with as much food and as many treats as possible. Sprinkle some around the area of the enclosure, even.
Keep an eye on things so that you can spring into action as soon as your bird returns to its home. You want to be sure that you can shut the gates, lockdown the latches, and bring your canary back inside ASAP.
Closing Thoughts
At the end of the day, the important thing for you to do is to focus on getting your canary back into its enclosure as quickly as possible.
The more time they spend outside their enclosure (and especially outside your home) the riskier things get. You really want to encourage them to get back home just as quickly as possible.
If, for any different number of reasons, you haven’t been able to get your canary back into its enclosure – and they’ve really gone missing – it’s not a bad idea to start spreading the word in your neighborhood and on social media.
Don’t give up hope!
Plenty of people have left their enclosures outdoors (including overnight) and woke up in the morning to find their canary back home, sitting inside on their perch just waiting for you to shut the gates and the latches and bring them back indoors.
Of course, it’s also not a bad idea to spend time training your canary when they are young to avoid these kinds of breakout situations in the first place.
There’s a lot of great free resources out there (especially on YouTube) that can help you train your canary, giving them a lot more confidence and a lot more familiarity with you as an owner to prevent these kinds of situations altogether.
Hopefully, you’ll never have to use these tips to find your canary, but if you do remember to stay calm, keep your windows and doors closed until you find your bird, and never give up hope!
