I spent a very enjoyable weekend at El Prado at the end of October this year. You might recognise the name as home to one of the greatest exhibitions of art in the world. However the El Prado I visited was not the one in the centre of Madrid, but in Yuncler, about half an hour’s drive outside the city. Instead of masterpieces by Goya, Velásquez and El Greco, it displayed the creations of a different group of Spanish artists: the breeders of the Lizard canary. This El Prado was the venue for the Amigos del Canario Lizard show of 2023.

It was an impressive sight: three tiers of show cages arranged on three sides of a large hall, displaying 407 Lizard canaries (predominantly gold and silver, both natural and colour-fed, but with blue and brown variants too) and 8 London Fancies. In the centre was the winners’ podium, flanked by the Spanish flag and the Union Jack. There was plenty of space for the judging stands and, after the judging had finished, dining tables for 60 people who enjoyed an excellent meal while being serenaded by the canaries. As ever with the Amigos, the show is not just about canaries; it is a social event too.

The only drawback was the lack of natural light, but it was easy to overcome. Whenever I had reduced a class down to the last seven birds, I simply asked my stewards Jesus Carrilero Copete (junior) and Alberto Navarro Jaramillo to take the birds outside and put them on a bench for me to place in their final order. It worked very well, much to the bemusement of passers-by.

This was my fourth Amigos show spanning six years, and one of the most rewarding aspects for me has been the steady rise in the quality of the birds. Every class I judged had several good specimens. There were far fewer birds with a dull ground colour, weak rowings and other signs of questionable parentage. There was also a reduction in the number of birds that lacked show training, but it was still disappointing when I had to mark the cages of some potentially good birds with agitato (wild) or miedo (nervous).

My fellow judges were John Canepa, Joe Coakley and Ernesto Gracia. After judging the classes, we came together to adjudicate on the major awards. There was a close contest between a clear cap silver cock and a clear cap gold hen for Best in Show. Both had good caps, spangles and rowings; the silver cock had a neater tail and better feather quality, while the gold hen was more ‘cobby’ and had darker legs. In the end, the silver cock won the day thanks to his ability to hold his spangles straight at all times, whereas the gold hen got tired and lost her lineage. Thus victory went to Kiko Cuesta Garcia, and Jesus Carrilero Copete (senior) had to settle for Second and Third Best Lizard (with a bold broken cap silver cock). A full list of the class and major prize winners can be seen here.


The class for London Fancies was won by a superb jonque (intensive) bred by Eduardo Saenz Bazo. Spain is rapidly becoming one of the leading countries in the revival of this beautiful breed.


Apart from the birds, I think there are two Amigos that deserve a special mention. The first is Francisco José Manuel Riesco Mendez, who goes under the nickname of ‘El Niño’ (The Kid). Niño, with support from Sergio Rodriguez Carrasco, was the organiser of this year’s event. It is a huge undertaking: the show hall, the staging, the prizes, the hotel and catering for around 60 visitors. As ever, the hospitality was wonderful; it was a great weekend.
El Niño with (from L to R) Ernesto Gracia, John Canepa, Antonio Saez Sanchez (better known as Toni), Joe Coakley, El Niño and myself.

The other is José Escarabajal Martínez, better known as Pepe. Highly respected for his integrity, enthusiasm and hard work, Pepe is the driving force behind the Amigos del Canario Lizard. Typically, he refuses to take the credit for the success of the show, always praising the contributions of others, but everyone knows that it is thanks to his leadership that the Amigos show has become the biggest exhibition of Lizard canaries in the world. This was Pepe’s final year as President of the Amigos. He has had to stand down due to family commitments, but his place will be taken by Manuel De Los Reyes Blanes Moreno (better known as Manolo), another stalwart of the event. We wish him every success.


The show finished with a presentation on the revival of the London Fancy given by Ernesto and myself. I was impressed by the number and the quality of the questions from the audience. It was clear sign that they were keen to learn about the breed and understand its genetics. As Pepe said in his closing address: if the Spanish breeders apply themselves to the London fancy as they have to the Lizard canary, the breed will prosper and its future will be very bright.


Footnotes:
1. My thanks go to Amadeo Pascual Hernandez, the show administrator and computer wizard, for supplying me with the result sheets and many of the photos you can see here. Also my thanks to Sergio Rodrigues for the photos he took at the event.
2. Here are some more photos from the show. Just click on an image to scroll through them at a larger size.