There are a number of similar stories surrounding the Fife Fancy origins, but they all go something like this:

The Fife Fancy is one of the newer varieties of Canary, coming into being, in or around 1950, therefore their history is well known.  The name Fife Fancy Canary stems from the fact that all, or most of the original breeders can from Fife (in Scotland) or the surrounding area.

The Fife was created to bring the Border Canary back to its original standard.  Whereas the original Border Canary had been 4½ inches long the modern Border was supposed to be 5½ inches long & these days can be as much as 7½ inches long.

A number of Scottish breeders were unhappy about the way the Border was being bred & they took a stand against this "bigger Border movement".  This was the beginning for the Fife Fancy & since then it has captured the hearts of many people around the world.

The Fife we know today has many things going for it, that have made it one of the most popular breeds to keep.  It has a wide variety of colours, is a lively little bird, it's easy to breed from, when showing you use the common Dewar show cage (also used for Border) & most importantly you can buy quality birds at extremely low prices (typically £15 to £20).

Above Photo Cage built by Walter Jones.

This page was last updated on 18-Nov-2005 .