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Glite Dictionary
canary bird

canary bird

1 1.3
A small yellow songbird often kept as a pet for its singing
  • noun
  • /kəˈnɛri bɜrd/
translation icon : canario

Examples

  • Did you steal any nice, shiny, soft canary birds?

    The Balcony (1963)

  • Bonnie Hazlitt lives there and raises canary birds for their beautiful songs.

  • I have two tame pigeons and a tiny canary bird that sings every morning.

  • The canary bird sang sweetly in its cage, bringing joy to everyone in the room.

Synonyms

canary
vscanary bird
14 2.1

A small bright yellow songbird often kept as a pet for its singing

is usually thought of as yellow rather than yellowish green
Serinus canaria
vscanary bird
  • Specialized
8.0

A small songbird often kept in a cage for its singing

is the common name used more widely rather than the scientific label
common canary
vscanary bird
2.5

A small yellow bird kept as a pet for its song

is the simpler general term focusing on typical Canary Islands origin

Surface Forms

canary bird singular
canary birds plural

Morphology

canary + bird

The meaning is directly and transparently derived from combining 'canary' (a specific small songbird) with 'bird' (a feathered vertebrate), so the phrase simply names that species. This compositional pattern is cross-linguistically common and even if 'bird' is somewhat redundant, a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily understand the MWE.

Etymology

Canary bird takes its name from the Canary Islands, where people first found these small birds and brought them to Europe as singing pets. Their bright yellow color and clear song made the canary famous, so today canary bird means a small yellow 'songbird' often kept as a 'pet'.