A perspective: my London fancies

Both the Lizard and the London fancy are variegated birds and came from the same ancestors. The London fancy is a variegated and “dilute” form of the Lizard, while the Lizard is a feather-controlled version of the London fancy. It is very delicate in feather control when paired to another variety of canary.

Although we generally look at the Lizard as a form of self, it is a type of variegated bird. Clear-capped Lizards have an area of clear feathers on their crown that are devoid of melanin pigment, as is the area of skin from hich they grow. This makes them variegated birds. Lizard canaries are unique because they have been bred for centuries to “fix” the feature and position of variegation, so that it only appears on their heads. This, however, is not strictly true, as light feathers do appear from time to time in studs. These birds are not used for breeding purposes, so that the true image is maintained.

Simply pairing it to another canary can spoil the unique pattern of the Lizard and hundreds of years of selected breeding is lost. That is what I did in 1997, when I attempted to breed a bird that looked like a London fancy. This was not the London fancy itself, because I thought at the time it would be impossible to discover its real image. I paired Lizards with green opals, which I thought would break up the controlling features of the Lizard. Both are recessive “self” birds that have dark underflue, are of the same size and perch in the same manner.

I only paired this combination of varieties for a couple of years, and since then I have tried to control the variegation left by the crossing. Variegation is difficult to control, but the Lizard pioneers managed to do it and I will never give up trying.

"I’ve had to rely on trial and error, but have indeed some evidence of a dominant factor"