The Spanish-held Canary Islands, off the northwest coast of Africa, were home to small greenfinches. These birds were caught and caged and sold in England as “canary birds”; today’s domesticated canary bird is mainly yellow, not green, and is called a “canary” for short. However, the word "canary" itself originally meant something different. The Canary Islands were so called by the Romans because of a type of large canine found there (the Latin "canāarius" meant “of dogs”). From big dog to little yellow bird—that’s etymology.