This bird was a naturally occurring Greater Sage-Grouse/Sharptail Grouse hybrid (more pictures here), and is almost certainly fertile, but it may not matter as this poor fellow does not quite speak the correct "bird language" of either species.
This is a real problem for hybrid birds, who may end up as awkward suitors with the wrong call, the wrong dance, or the wrong nesting behavior.
For more on naturally occurring animal hybrids, see Darwin Drives a Hybrid Animal.
In other bird news, Florida admits defeat in the fight to eradicate exotic the Purple Swamphen.
The Purple Swamphen is indigenous to Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia, and is about the size of a chicken. Two separate subspecies are loose in Florida.
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2 comments:
I bet that swamp hen is delicious... same family as our rails. Yum! Problem solved.
Not only likely delicious, but I'll bet those purple breast feathers could find their way into quite a few fly patterns. Open a season!
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