Yes, all the canaries in today’s discussion are metaphorical references to the literal birds, the “canary in a coal mine.”

Coal miners were often killed by suffocation when they would accidentally release or encounter pockets of carbon monoxide, which was odorless and invisible. (Edit: also possibly other toxic gases) So they began carrying a canary in a cage with them. Being little, it was more susceptible than they. If the canary keeled over, you knew to get the hell out of there! Of course many canaries died. But the miners grew fond of their little yellow chirpers, and started to be more vigilant against the effects of the carbon monoxide. Like if the bird stopped singing. This was a win-win, because fewer miners died as well.

Edit to add: And they sometimes even attached a little O2 tank to the cage to save the canary. WWI tunnel mine exploding teams sometimes used canaries as well for the same thing.