GCC or Black cap

Darklotus555 · 7/21/21

Wondering if these are firey shouldered gccs or black caps?

expressmailtome · 7/22/21

They are absolutely not green cheeked conures. To me they appear to be black-capped conure X fiery-shouldered conure hybrids, or opaline black-capped conures. I am not positive which they are. @Monica is very knowledgeable on hybrids and mutations and may know for sure. Are you interested in purchasing them?

Monica · 7/22/21

Actually, they kind of do look like green cheeks to me!

They're missing the coloration for black caps and fiery shouldered conures.

I don't see the black cap faces or the green colored tail.

I don't see the horn colored beak of a fiery shouldered, nor the darker maroon tail.

I would say that they are indeed green cheeks, possibly green cheek hybrids. There are some strains of green cheeks that have the red shoulders now, as well as the opaline mutation having a higher chance of having those red shoulders. If the website was still up, I could share pictures of that group of birds more easily.

@Darklotus555 do you have any more pictures of these birds?

webchirp · 7/22/21

Monica said:
Actually, they kind of do look like green cheeks to me!

They're missing the coloration for black caps and fiery shouldered conures.

I don't see the black cap faces or the green colored tail.

I don't see the horn colored beak of a fiery shouldered, nor the darker maroon tail.

I would say that they are indeed green cheeks, possibly green cheek hybrids. There are some strains of green cheeks that have the red shoulders now, as well as the opaline mutation having a higher chance of having those red shoulders. If the website was still up, I could share pictures of that group of birds more easily.

@Darklotus555 do you have any more pictures of these birds?

Agree, mix of something here. I'd love to see their chests as well.

Darklotus555 · 7/22/21

I will try to get more pictures. They were sold to a friend as a proven pair over a year ago, but no breeding behavior

Darklotus555 · 7/22/21

Here are a few more pics

Monica · 7/22/21

Chances are, they're related.... not that that would stop any breeding behavior! Unless of course they are same gender...

I don't see anything to indicate that they are anything BUT green cheeks.... even if they may appear to be somewhat unusual in appearance compared to others.... hard to say if this is due to selective breeding or multi-gen hybrids.

Has your friend had them DNA tested?

camelotshadow · 7/22/21

What is the orange on the shoulder? That I find strange.

Darklotus555 · 7/24/21

No, I don't think he has. He doesn't really care, I am looking for a male gcc, and he told me about his. I dont want a hybrid because they are sterile. He had another person tell him they were black caps, but looked gcc to me.
Thank you all for your help!!

Monica · 7/24/21

Darklotus555 said:
I dont want a hybrid because they are sterile.

Are you trying to get a male green cheek for a female green cheek????

Otherwise, that sentence makes absolutely no sense to me.... *MOST* parrot hybrids are actually fertile... and the majority of green cheeks are likely to be hybrids in one or or another anyway........ not that I would recommend hybridizing birds! Just a fact...

Darklotus555 · 7/24/21

I have always heard hybrids are sterile, but not saying that is true, but have heard that for years. Like crossing a peach face and Fischer lovebird the offspring would be sterile

Darklotus555 · 7/24/21

A hybrid bird's size and colour is generally a mix of both parents. Hybrids are usually infertile (i.e. they cannot reproduce), however many species combinations can produce fertile offspring.Sep 16, 2017

BrianB · 7/25/21

The shoulders aren’t that unusual. I had a pair of turquoise green cheeks that had a patch of yellow feathers on their shoulders. They look like green cheeks of some sort but possibly a hybrid or inbred to some degree.

expressmailtome · 7/25/21

Darklotus555 said:
Like crossing a peach face and Fischer lovebird the offspring would be sterile

Correct, however hybrids between Lilian's, black-cheeked, black-masked, and Fisher's lovebirds are all fertile. That includes multiple generation hybrids of those species.

Monica · 7/25/21

We have multi-generation of sun conure x nanday hybrids... multi-gen hybrids of sun conure x hahns macaw with possibly jenday thrown in.... multi-gen hybrids of macaws....

There's indications that green cheeks and maroon bellieds may have naturally hybridized in the wild as they share a gene. (I don't have the study off hand on this to back it up) Not only that but both species have subspecies.... which means that both species (among many others) may be hybrids on a subspecies level. This is true with eclectus parrots.

The peach face hybrids are actually one of the *FEW* hybrid species that is confirmed sterile.

Here's another example... this bird never produced and is a 3-way hybrid of crimson and eastern rosella along with a mallee ringneck.

Flickr Search — “bossy”

www.flickr.com

And well... not all mules are apparently sterile... which I believe is where the idea came from that all hybrids are sterile - which is the furthest from the truth

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Morocco's miracle mule 'confirmed'

Darklotus555 · 7/26/21

@Monica That is a beautiful bird. It seems I learn something new about birds every day, problem is, you never know what is true, and what is not.
I know you are a reliable source of information. You have helped me before. Your knowledge of genetics is amazing, you must work in the field in some way...if not, you should.
I have had birds a short time, only about 4 years. I am starving to learn all I can about them to provide them with the best possible life.
Thank you for taking your time to help me. It really means a lot. (As well as everyone else who has responded)

Monica · 7/26/21

Honestly, whatever I end up taking an interest in, I research a lot into!

Right now I'm actually just a forklift driver in a warehouse.

I am no expert by any means, I know I still have a lot to learn!

Shame there isn't more info about these unique conures you shared!

Mark & Da Boyz · 7/29/21

If I remember my biology right there are two different things here to take in to account. There are many species of bird and many different mutations. The difference is, difference species will product sterile offspring, but different mutation can produce viable offspring. One of the thing that makes different species and not just in bird is they can no longer reproduce a viable offspring. Look at Cockatiels, there's only one species of 'Tiel but the are tons on mutations but that can all interbreed and produce viable chicks.

Now that said it's been a long LONG time since I took those classes so don't go betting your house that I'm 100% right on this.

Darklotus555 · 7/29/21

@Mark & Da Boyz I think you are correct, just stated SO plainly. Thank you

Monica · 7/30/21

We have cockatiel x galah (rose breasted) hybrids...

https://flic.kr/p/31gUMP
https://flic.kr/p/5yhkXW
https://flic.kr/p/5ycYbv
There's a video of that bird in this link

World first, galah breeds with cockatiel – Talking Birds

Here are some unrelated hybrids

http://imgur.com/bHcSfBm

And another that has since passed....

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It is unknown if these hybrids are fertile or sterile... unless anyone has done test breeding on them. If they have, I have not heard of it. I do hope they are sterile!

Page 4-5 of this has a mitred conure x blue fronted amazon hybrid - unclear if this hybrid or similar hybrids are fertile or sterile

zoomagazine 2012/4

Zoomagazine van de Olmense Zoo jaargang 2012/4

issuu.com

I also have pictures of conure x caique hybrids (also not sure of fertility)

And there are several conure x macaw hybrids (some have proven fertile - others it's unclear)

GCC or Black cap

Strolling the yard

Attachments

Ripping up the road

Cruising the avenue

Joyriding the Neighborhood

Strolling the yard

Strolling the yard

Attachments

Cruising the avenue

Joyriding the Neighborhood

Strolling the yard

Cruising the avenue

Strolling the yard

Strolling the yard

Rollerblading along the road

Ripping up the road

Cruising the avenue

Strolling the yard

Cruising the avenue

Rollerblading along the road

Strolling the yard

Cruising the avenue