Canary

The canary was a bird found in Faerûn. It was bright yellow in color and sang.

Duathamper canary
This canary nested in the butternut trees on the River Duathamper in Cormanthor. It had yellow feathers and a green throat. It was notable for being regarded as Rillifane Rallathil's favorite creature, according to Makk Fireseed and the elves of the Tangled Trees. They believed the canary's yellow feathers were symbolic of the sun, and that its green throat represented the leaves of trees.

Uses
Many dwarven miners of northern Faerûn, such as those of Earthfast, took caged canaries with them into the mines. If the air turned bad, then the canary died first. They adopted this practice as a certain glowing fungus, which changed color in bad air and was used by southern dwarves, tended to die in cold northern climates.

Ironlord Torg mac Cei of Earthfast developed a liking for them, and kept several as pets. He often carried a fine golden cage about with him, even on campaign and in battle.

Trivia

 * The god Geb was known to sometimes manifest as a dead canary when miners were about to uncover pockets of lethal gas.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * Crusade • The Shattered Mask