Making Green Feathers Red

    Many years before Duncker and Reich's time, birdkeepers were trying to make the feathers match the beautful song of the little dull green birds. One of the stories that Reich told Hans was of the first recorded red canary birds shown in an 1850 bird show. Exhibited by Mr. Edward Bemrose was many bright orange canaries. The judges were puzzled, they had never seen such color in that breed of bird and of course, they won him many medals. This made the other birdkeepers very angry, some even enough to grab the birds and attempt to rub dye off of their feathers, to no avail. Some time later, one of Bemrose's workers sold his secret; a diet of red peppers turned the green feathers a tangerine orange. Dunckner and Reich's red canaries were created using genetics only; they were the the first ever honest red canary. After many many years of dedicated breeding and targeting color genes, the pair created their beautful bird.

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