How Do Canaries Get Pregnant?

The simple answer to this very common bird question is that birds--canaries included--don't get pregnant. Pregnancy is when a fetus develops inside a mother. Birds lay eggs, and the young ones develop outside of the mother; therefore, canaries do not get pregnant at all. To understand this question further, we can look at how eggs develop and become fertile.

  1. Egg Laying

    • All female canaries, given the right environmental signals, such as a nest and plenty of food, can lay eggs. This can happen even without a male; in such cases the eggs will not be fertile and no baby will develop inside the eggs.

    Egg Creation

    • During breeding season a female canary will release ovum, which is mostly a yolk sac, into a sort of pocket. A shell has yet to form at this point.

    Fertilization

    • Before the shell is formed the ovum can be fertilized. This occurs through mating. A male will stand on the female so that their cloacas connect and he can pass his sperm to the female.

    The Egg Shell

    • With or without fertilization, the egg yolk and sac continue to travel through the various stages of the oviduct, where the inner and outer parts of the shell are eventually applied. At first the shell is soft; it becomes harder or calcified in the end stages of development.

    Laying the Egg

    • Once a fertilized egg is laid, the embryo will start to grow. Prior to leaving the mother's body, there was no growth of the embryo, which is why, again, canaries don't really become pregnant. Actual growth and development of the baby canary happens outside of the mother's body.