I don’t suppose that many Lizard canary breeders would turn down an invitation to visit Domenico Mungiguerra. I certainly didn’t. He lives near Cassino, so this was a golden opportunity to see one of the best strains of Lizards in the world.

Most of my readers will know that Domenico is having to rebuild his stud after the theft of most of his birds in January 2022. You can read about it here. He told me it took him six months before he could face going back into his old bird house, which still stands empty. Fortunately the thieves left some old birds in his aviary which, in combination with younger birds from breeders who have his bloodline (in particular Fabio Macchioni), gave him a foundation to build on. I realised that I shouldn’t expect too much from the first crop of young birds, but I hoped to see some early signs of a revival. I wasn’t disappointed.

Angelo drove us to Domenico’s new home in a quiet village near Aquino (1). His birds are now accommodated at his new house and, as you can imagine, security has been a priority. Fabio joined us, so we had a good reunion with lots of laughs.


Domenico’s birdroom is light and airy with breeding cages stacked from floor to ceiling. He likes box cages, so it looked very much like a British birdroom. Being March, the breeding season had started and several hens were sitting on eggs. I didn’t want to disturb them, but Domenico was happy to run some cock birds into show cages for me to view.

Four birds had caught my eye and they looked even better when I inspected them in a show cage. They all had that Mungiguerra ‘look’: large, broad-shouldered birds with excellent spangles and profuse rowings. The caps were neat and the legs were dark. It is an impressive combination.



Amongst these riches, one bird stood out: a broken cap silver cock. A bold bird with excellent ground colour; he displayed profuse rowings and large, distinct spangles that were always aligned. He was a joy to behold and I kept going back to his cage to admire him. Don’t forget that this was in March; I could only wonder what he must have looked like in show condition.


There is a saying in sport that ‘form is temporary, class is permanent’, and that certainly applies to Domenico and his birds. Even though his A team had been stolen, his B team still carried the genes that can produce top quality Lizards. Domenico knows the strengths and weaknesses of his families, and can pair his birds to bring out the best from them. That is one of the key qualities that all the top breeders posses, and I was delighted to see the progress he had made in such a short time. The future is looking bright and I wish him well.

Footnotes:
- While I have focussed on Domenico and his Lizard canaries in this article, it would be remiss of me if I didn’t mention the warm welcome we received from his wife Francesca Vita and his parents. Lovely people and a very enjoyable visit.
- My thanks to Angelo for arranging the visit and to Fabio for his assistance with the photography.
- Aquino is best known as the home of Tommaso d’Aquino (Thomas Aquinas) the theological philosopher in the 13th century.
Fantastic report off one off the best lizard breeders in the world. And how quickly he returned to the high level after his birds had been stolen. Interesting to see that Italian breeders like the same breeding cages as used in the past and now by English breeders.
Wonderful markings, beautiful birds
Best wishes to Huw, his family and all followers of this blog.
Hopeful for excellent articles in 2024.
Kind regards, Gust Truyens
And a happy New Year to you too Gust.