Bird hybrid

{{short description|Bird with two different species as parents}} [[File:Hybrid tauraco -Bird Kingdom, Niagara Falls, Canada-8a (1).jpg | thumb | 220x124px | right| Hybrid turaco]] [[File:Catalina macaw.jpg|thumb|upright|A Catalina macaw - a blue-and-yellow macaw × scarlet macaw hybrid]] A '''bird hybrid''' is a bird that has two different species as parents. The resulting bird can present with any combination of characteristics from the parent species, from totally identical to completely different. Usually, the bird hybrid shows intermediate characteristics between the two species. A "successful" hybrid is one demonstrated to produce fertile offspring. According to the most recent estimates, about 16% of all wild bird species have been known to hybridize with one another; this number increases to 22% when captive hybrids are taken into account.<ref name="Ottenburghs"/> Several bird species hybridize with multiple other species. For example, the mallard (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is known to interbreed with at least 40 different species. The ecological and evolutionary consequences of multispecies hybridization remain to be determined.<ref name=Ottenburghs2/>

In the wild, some of the most frequently reported hybrids are waterfowl,<ref name="Kross"/> gulls,<ref name="BOC"/> hummingbirds,<ref name="Kaufman"/> and birds-of-paradise.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.beautyofbirds.com/birdsofparadisehybrids.html|title=Hybrid Species of Bird of Paradise or Cendrawasih {{!}} Beauty of Birds|website=www.beautyofbirds.com|access-date=2018-12-04}}</ref> Mallards, whether of wild or domestic origin, hybridize with other ducks so often that multiple duck species are at risk of extinction because of it.<ref>{{Cite web |url= https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mottled_Duck/overview|title=Mottled Duck Overview, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology |website= www.allaboutbirds.org |access-date=2018-12-04}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url= https://birdsna.org/Species-Account/bna/species/hawduc/introduction |title= Hawaiian Duck - Introduction |website= Birds of North America Online, birdsna.org |access-date=2018-12-04}}</ref> In gulls, Western × Glaucous-winged Gulls (known as "Olympic Gulls") are particularly common; these hybrids are fertile and may be more evolutionarily fit than either parent species.<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://birdhybrids.blogspot.com/2014/06/western-gull-x-glaucous-winged-gull.html |title=Bird Hybrids: Western Gull × Glaucous-winged Gull |last=Appleton |first=Dave |date=2014-06-05 |website= Bird Hybrids |access-date=2018-12-04}}</ref> At least twenty different hummingbird hybrid combinations have been reported, and intergeneric hybrids are not uncommon within the family.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://avianhybrids.wordpress.com/apodiformes/|title=Apodiformes|last=says|first=It’s complicated: Hybrid hummingbirds in Mexico-Avian Hybrids|date=2014-12-12|website=Avian Hybrids|access-date=2018-12-04}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://westtexashummingbirds.com/information/species-accounts/hybrids/|title=westtexashummingbirds.com: Hybrids|access-date=2018-12-04}}</ref> At least two hybrids (''Eudyptes chrysolophus × E. chrysocome''; ''Spheniscus humboldti × S. magellanicus'') are known in penguins.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Geer |date=2025-06-17 |title=All About the Newly Discovered Rockaroni Penguin |url=https://www.aol.com/newly-discovered-rockaroni-penguin-153200977.html |access-date=2026-03-22 |website=www.aol.com |language=en-US|first=Jennifer}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Simeone |first=Alejandro |last2=Hiriart-Bertrand |first2=Luciano |last3=Reyes-Arriagada |first3=Ronnie |last4=Halpern |first4=Micah |last5=Dubach |first5=Jean |last6=Wallace |first6=Roberta |last7=Pütz |first7=Klemens |last8=Lüthi |first8=Benno |date=2009 |title=Heterospecific Pairing and Hybridization between Wild Humboldt and Magellanic Penguins in Southern Chile |url=https://doi.org/10.1525/cond.2009.090083 |journal=The Condor |volume=111 |issue=3 |pages=544–550}}</ref>

New World warblers are known to hybridize as well, and an unusual three-species warbler hybrid was discovered in May 2018.<ref name="GrrlScientist"/> Hybridisation in shorebirds is unusual but reliably recorded.<ref name="Jehl">{{cite journal|author=Jehl, J. R. Jr.|year=1985|title=Hybridization and evolution of oystercatchers on the Pacific Coast of Baja California|journal=Ornithological Monographs|volume=36|issue=36|pages=484–504|doi=10.2307/40168300|jstor=40168300}}</ref><ref name="Jonsson">{{cite journal|author=Jonsson, Lars|year=1996|title=Mystery stint at Groote Keeten: First known hybrid between Little and Temminck's Stint?|journal=Dutch Birding|volume=18|pages=24–28}}</ref><ref name="McCarthy">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MwInO7z_Y3oC&pg=PA170|title=Handbook of Avian Hybrids of the World|last=McCarthy|first=Eugene M.|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2006|isbn=978-0-19-518323-8|location=Oxford, UK|page=170}}</ref><ref name="McLaughlin">{{cite journal|author1=McLaughlin K. A.|author2=Wormington, A.|year=2000|title=An apparent Dunlin × White-rumped Sandpiper hybrid|journal=Ontario Birds|volume=18|issue=1|pages=8–12}}</ref><ref name="Millington">{{cite journal|author=Millington, Richard|year=1994|title=A mystery Calidris at Cley|url=http://www.birdingworld.freeserve.co.uk/CleyCalidrisArticle.htm|url-status=dead|journal=Birding World|volume=7|issue=2|pages=61–63|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040617170807/http://www.birdingworld.freeserve.co.uk/CleyCalidrisArticle.htm|archive-date=2004-06-17}}</ref><ref name="Parker">{{cite journal|author=Parker, Shane A.|year=1982|title=A new sandpiper of the genus ''Calidris''|journal=South Australian Naturalist|volume=56|pages=63}}</ref><ref name="Paulson">{{cite book|title=Shorebirds of North America: a photographic guide|author=Paulson, Dennis R.|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=2005|isbn=978-0-691-12107-9|place=Princeton, N.J.}}</ref><ref name="Pierce">{{cite journal|author=Pierce, R. J.|year=1984|title=Plumage, morphology and hybridisation of New Zealand Stilts ''Himantopus'' spp|url=http://www.notornis.org.nz/free_issues/Notornis_31-1984/Notornis_31_2.pdf|url-status=dead|journal=Notornis|volume=31|pages=106–130|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071024010943/http://www.notornis.org.nz/free_issues/Notornis_31-1984/Notornis_31_2.pdf|archive-date=2007-10-24}}</ref>

Numerous gamebird, domestic fowl and duck hybrids are known. Captive songbird hybrids are sometimes called mules.<ref>{{cite web|title=The National British Bird & Mule Club|url=http://www.birdinfo.co.uk/sites/natbritishbirdmuleclub/club_history.htm|access-date=18 January 2018}}</ref> Numerous hybrid macaws exist in aviculture and occasionally occur in the wild. Some of these hybrid parrots are fertile with both the parent species and other hybrids.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.beautyofbirds.com/hybridmacaws.html|title = Hybrid Macaws & Mutations | Beauty of Birds}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thesprucepets.com/hybrid-macaws-390828|title = These Are the 21 Types of Hybrid Macaws}}</ref>

The scientific literature on hybridization in birds has been collected at the Avian Hybrids Project.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://avianhybrids.wordpress.com/|title=The Avian Hybrids Project|last=Ottenburghs |first=Jente |website=Avian Hybrids |access-date=2018-07-21}}</ref>

The reality of bird hybrids also calls into question modern definitions of the word "species". Throughout literature, there tends to be a general vagueness regarding the word "species" and how it should be defined. Birds serve as an excellent example of this fluidity due to the remarkable cross-breeding opportunities.{{Citation needed|date=May 2021|reason=Species fluidity is highly documented}}

==Examples of hybrid birds== <gallery mode="nolines" widths="200px"> File:Hybrid goose.jpg|An intergeneric hybrid between Canada goose (''Branta canadensis'') and domestic goose (''Anser anser domesticus'') File:Goldfinch_Canary_hybrid.JPG|A mule, a hybrid between domestic canary and goldfinch File:Cockatoo hybrid -Flying High Bird Habitat, Australia-8a.jpg|A probable galah × little corella intergeneric hybrid File:amherstxgolden.jpg|Lady Amherst's pheasant × golden pheasant Image:blackxhazel.jpg|Hybrid pheasant (left) and hybrid of black grouse × hazel grouse (right) File:Mulards.png|Mulards, hybrids between a domestic Muscovy duck and a wild-type mallard File:Lawrence's warbler (21826).jpg|Lawrence's warbler, a hybrid between golden-winged warbler and blue-winged warbler </gallery>

==References== <references> <ref name="BOC">{{Cite web |title=Identifying Hybrid & Immature Gulls in Coastal B.C. |url=https://www.birdscanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Immature-HybridGulls.pdf |publisher=Birds Studies Canada/Études des Oiseaux |website=Birds Canada/Oiseaux Canada |first=Russell |last=Cannings |date=March 2012 |access-date=4 December 2018}}</ref>

<ref name="GrrlScientist">{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/grrlscientist/2018/11/09/rare-three-species-hybrid-bird-discovered/|title=Scientists Discover A Rare Bird That's A Hybrid Of Three Different Species|last=GrrlScientist|website=Forbes|date=9 November 2018 |access-date=4 December 2018}}</ref>

<ref name="Kaufman">{{Cite web |first=Kenn |last=Kaufman |title=Which Birds Produce the Most Hybrids? |url=https://www.audubon.org/news/which-birds-produce-most-hybrids|date=20 April 2018 |website=Audubon |access-date=4 December 2018}}</ref>

<ref name="Kross">{{Cite web|title=Waterfowl Hybrids |first=Jennifer |last=Kross |url=http://www.ducks.org/conservation/waterfowl-research-science/waterfowl-hybrids |website=Ducks Unlimited |access-date=4 December 2018}}</ref>

<ref name="Ottenburghs">{{Cite journal |last1=Ottenburghs|first1=Jente |last2=Ydenberg|first2=Ronald C. |last3=Van Hooft|first3=Pim |last4=Van Wieren|first4=Sipke E. |last5=Prins|first5=Herbert H. T. |date=October 2015 |title=The Avian Hybrids Project: gathering the scientific literature on avian hybridization |journal=Ibis |volume=157 |issue=4 |pages=892–894 |doi=10.1111/ibi.12285 |issn=1474-919X |doi-access=free}}</ref>

<ref name=Ottenburghs2>{{Cite journal|last=Ottenburghs|first=Jente|date=14 June 2019|title=Multispecies hybridization in birds|journal=Avian Research|volume=10|page=20|doi=10.1186/s40657-019-0159-4|issn=2053-7166|doi-access=free}}</ref> </references>

==External links== * Bird Hybrids Database * [http://www.bird-hybrids.com/Mailing_list_en.php Bird Hybrids Mailing List]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bird Hybrid}} Category:Bird hybrids Category:Hybridisation in birds Category:Intergeneric hybrids