Lizard Canary

The Lizard Canary is believed to have arisen as a mutation from canaries in France during the early 1700s. According to G.T. Dodwell it was first described in a French canary manual of 1762 It was introduced to Britain by the Huguenot weavers, French Calvinist refugees who fled religious persecution to find safety in Britain. Many emigrated from Picardy and, surviving to this day in Edinburgh, there is a district called 'Picardy Place', where the French weavers found homes and renewed their trade.

The Lizard is named for its beautiful markings which resemble the scales of a lizard; on the back these are termed 'spangles' , while those on the breast are called 'rows'. The wings are a dark, glossy black as are the beak, legs, feet and claws. The Lizard is unique among canaries in having perfectly symmetrical markings, i.e. regular, even patterns. With other varieties, notably Borders and Yorkshires, fanciers spent years trying to produce evenly-marked birds, but it has always been a difficult task and most breeders do not even attempt this any more. There is strong circumstantial and anecdotal evidence that the now-extinct London Fancy was originally a mutation, with clear body and black wings and tail, that sprang directly from the Lizard Canary. Debate continues on this point.

The Lizard only presents a perfect show-plumage during its first year, after which the spangling deteriorates in each successive moult, so fanciers normally only show unflighted or current-year birds. This is a characteristic which was shared by the London Fancy, which gives weight to the theory that it sprang directly from a mutation of the Lizard.