Whatever the case, the canary has been a favorite among bird keepers for hundreds of years, and has been bred into more than 200 breeds, much like dogs have, each breed prized for a particular skill or appearance.
The birds are named after Spain's Canary Islands, which derive their name from the Latin Insula Canaria (after one of the larger islands, Gran Canaria), meaning "island of dogs", due to its "vast multitudes of dogs of very large size".