Wild hybrid cockatoo?

[lexalayne]

I ran across this on fb and found it interesting and wanted to share it:

 

[Sodapop&Co.]

Wowz. Gorgeous bird

 

[Shezbug]

Oh my goodness that is interesting.
I see the corellas and galahs or corellas and cockatoos hanging out a fair bit and I’ve often wondered if anything like that would be a possibility in the wild. Sometimes they seem to get along quite well.

 

[lexalayne]

Here’s a couple more pictures of him/her:

 

[Shezbug]

I’d be very interested to learn more about this particular bird. I don’t have FB though. Any ideas where else I could find more information about it?

 

[lexalayne]

When you google it it doesn’t show anything except fb.

 

[lexalayne]

And when you go to message them it says this :

 

[Monica]

Most wild hybrid cockatoos are likely the result of an escaped pet joining a local flock of another species and producing hybrids.

Interesting hybrid!

 

[Cat The Great]

Wow, stunning hybrid!

 

[fashionfobie]

I have seen this before in Maleny Bird World Sanctuary. They have two there, a galah and a sulfur who are madly in love produced the chicks. Now that they are at the sanctuary all nesting is prevented, but their chicks are really stunning, and somehow distressing. A bit like parrot mules.

 

[Cat The Great]

I have seen this before in Maleny Bird World Sanctuary. They have two there, a galah and a sulfur who are madly in love produced the chicks. Now that they are at the sanctuary all nesting is prevented, but their chicks are really stunning, and somehow distressing. A bit like parrot mules.

That's sad that the chicks are messed up because of breeding of those two birds. Unfortunately, not all species/subspecies can breed and have babies that are not confused/sterile. The main point of hybrids is while it is not natural, they still can be stunning parrots.

 

[fashionfobie]

That's sad that the chicks are messed up because of breeding of those two birds. Unfortunately, not all species/subspecies can breed and have babies that are not confused/sterile. The main point of hybrids is while it is not natural, they still can be stunning parrots.

I don't think it was intentional. I think the previous owners of their parents may have been in over their head and not know what they were doing. I think that is why they brought them to the sanctuary. They seem like happy enough birds now. They will have the privilege to live their full lives in giant flights and can play and eat all the good foods they want.

I don't keep macaws, nor am I super well versed in them, but there are several macaw hybrids that are regularly kept, Camelot macaws for example. I think it is just more confronting when we see it in the cockatoo species because it isn't as common. I am not saying I am an advocate of hybrids, I do find it a bit confronting.

 

[Monica]

I have seen this before in Maleny Bird World Sanctuary. They have two there, a galah and a sulfur who are madly in love produced the chicks. Now that they are at the sanctuary all nesting is prevented, but their chicks are really stunning, and somehow distressing. A bit like parrot mules.

Most hybrid parrots are actually fertile. Now, I haven't heard of any multi-gen hybrids between cockatoos of different species, but most hybrids are fertile and healthy.

Of the ones I can think of that have health issues... Pyrrhura x large conure hybrids, large conure x mini macaw hybrids, some multi-gen hybrid macaws... infertility would be the least concern of their health issues! Of which I have heard of in a multi-gen hybrid of rosella x australian ringneck. He never produced any offspring, so it's assumed that he's infertile.



If that's what you meant by distressing and parrot mules...


I don't know about.... (fertility/health - overall, what I've seen, these hybrids appear healthy, although one type is questionable)

Conure x Amazon
Conure x Caique
Caique x Macaw
Lorikeet x King Parrot
African Grey x Jardines
Rosella x Kakariki

 

[fashionfobie]

Oh I don't care if a bird is fertile or not. I meant by "distressing" is that I am unsure of how I feel. So it makes me ponder, wonder, a feeling of being a bit upset...do to uncertainty. Parrot mules, because somehow Mule doesn't sound odd. Mules are an accepted hybrid.

It is all really just a psychological battle in my own mind


As a point of reference, a chimpanzee human hybrid would be pretty distressing. Also probably quickly become a massive ethical debate.

 

[Sodapop&Co.]

I agree @fashionfobie

But that bird is absolutely stunning. I mean... wow

 

[fashionfobie]

I agree @fashionfobie

But that bird is absolutely stunning. I mean... wow

EXACTLY! Gorgeous and stunning! This is my complex. So lovely, but then I am left doubting 10 hundred other things.

 

[Monica]

If it were up to me, it would be nice to not see any hybrids at all.... but they are still fascinating to learn about!

 

[Sodapop&Co.]

If it were up to me, it would be nice to not see any hybrids at all.... but they are still fascinating to learn about!

Yep. A world without hybrids would be best, and that's exactly how I feel. But gotta say, looking at that picture I am mindblown and head over heels in love. I am quite sure I've made my point... but dayum...

 

[fashionfobie]

I have a bird crush on all Psittacula birds. --which are notoriously easy to hybridize.

There is a really big problem with blossom headed parrots being crossed with plum headed parrots. The two spices are very similar in colouration, though a trained eye can clearly see the difference, in shoulder patch, tail tips and general body size, not to mention head colour and other things. There is also a problem of people pairing slaty heads to plums.

Blossom heads are becoming very hard to find and their natural habitat is under some risk from deforestation. It makes it ever more important to not cross breed them.

**For any plum or other psittacula enthusiast who come across this thread. Please don't jump into breeding until you really know what you are doing! Please get a mentor at the very least. We must preserve the blossom heads, slaty heads in avi culture and more! **

 

[lexalayne]

Oh I don't care if a bird is fertile or not. I meant by "distressing" is that I am unsure of how I feel. So it makes me ponder, wonder, a feeling of being a bit upset...do to uncertainty. Parrot mules, because somehow Mule doesn't sound odd. Mules are an accepted hybrid.

It is all really just a psychological battle in my own mind


As a point of reference, a chimpanzee human hybrid would be pretty distressing. Also probably quickly become a massive ethical debate.

This is a great read in hybrid animals

The mixed-up world of hybrid animals

When animals from related species mate, they may produce hybrid offspring. These animals can display a jumble of traits, such as colors, shapes or behaviors.

www.sciencenewsforstudents.org

Part of this article:

But hybridization sometimes can boost biodiversity. A hybrid might be able to eat a certain food that its parent species cannot. Or maybe it can thrive in a different habitat. Eventually, it could become its own species, like the golden-crowned manakin. And that would increase — not decrease — the variety of life on Earth. Hybridization, Delmore concludes, is “actually a creative force.”
Going their own way
Hybrids can be different from their parents in many ways. Appearance is just one. Delmore wanted to know how hybrids might behave differently than their parents. She looked to a songbird called the Swainson’s thrush.
Over time, this species has split into subspecies. These are groups of animals from the same species that live in different areas. However, when they do encounter each other, they can still breed and produce fertile young.



Beyond distressing are the current experiments with human / chimp hybridization. And in the same vein: these experiments have been and are going on in China and other count

Juan Carlos Izpisua, who created the world’s first human-pig hybrid in 2017 and led the latest experiment, said: “We are now trying not only to move forward and continue experimenting with human cells and rodent and pig cells, but also with non-human primates. Our country is a pioneer and a world leader in these investigations.”

In as much as I can understand these things the hybridizations only occur with extreme genetic modifications.

as far as macaws / cockatoos creating hybrids:

The Military Macaw is one of the eight species of the genus Ara. The genus is one of six genera, which form morphologically diverse group termed as Macaws. Parrots of this group differ in body size on demand of the genus and species. Six of Ara species are classified as large Macaws. Based on morphological similarities and differences, these species can be segregated into three pairs according to their plumage coloration. Representative mitochondrial genomes were sequenced only for A. glaucogularis (blue and yellow coloration) and A. macao (predominantly red/scarlet). Ara militaris is one of two predominantly green species and full mitochondrial genome of considered species was sequenced in this study.
It’s comparison with A. glaucogularis and A. macaomitogenomes revealed higher degree of identity between militaris and macao sequences than between militaris and glaucogularis mtDNAs. Ara militaris mitogenome will be indispensable to refine the phylogenetic relationships within Macaw group.
Keywords:Ara militaris, Arini, mitogenome, military macaw, Psittaciformes


I didn’t buy this research. But it seems the gene sequencing of the macaws is being mapped and compared to understand their evolutionary relationships.

anyways I find hybrid parrots interesting and I would love to understand the genetics behind them. Especially because they are more often than not fertile.