Gamebird hybrids are the result of crossing species of

game birds Galliformes is an order of heavy-bodied ground-feeding birds that includes turkeys, chickens, quail, and other landfowl. Gallinaceous birds, as they are called, are important in their ecosystems as seed dispersers and predators, and are often ...

, including ducks, with each other and with domestic poultry. These

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...

species may sometimes occur naturally in the wild or more commonly through the deliberate or inadvertent intervention of humans.

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...

described hybrids of game birds and domestic fowl in ''

The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication ''The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication'' is a book by Charles Darwin that was first published in January 1868. A large proportion of the book contains detailed information on the domestication of animals and plants but it al ...

'':

Mr. Hewitt, who has had great experience in crossing tame cock-pheasants with fowls belonging to five breeds, gives as the character of all 'extraordinary wildness' (13/42. 'The Poultry Book' by Tegetmeier 1866 pages 165, 167.); but I have myself seen one exception to this rule. Mr.
S. J. Salter S is the nineteenth letter of the English alphabet. S may also refer to: History * an Anglo-Saxon charter's number in Peter Sawyer's, catalogue Language and linguistics * Long s (ſ), a form of the lower-case letter s formerly used where "s ...
(13/43. 'Natural History Review' 1863 April page 277.) who raised a large number of hybrids from a bantam-hen by Gallus sonneratii, states that 'all were exceedingly wild.' ..utterly sterile male hybrids from the pheasant and the fowl act in the same manner, "their delight being to watch when the hens leave their nests, and to take on themselves the office of a sitter." (13/57. 'Cottage Gardener' 1860 page 379.) .. Mr. Hewitt gives it as a general rule with fowls, that crossing the breed increases their size. He makes this remark after stating that hybrids from the pheasant and fowl are considerably larger than either progenitor: so again, hybrids from the male golden pheasant and female common pheasant "are of far larger size than either parent-bird.' (17/39. Ibid 1866 page 167; and 'Poultry Chronicle' volume 3 1855 page 15.)"

Pheasant and grouse hybrids

Hybrids have been obtained between the "ornamental" species of pheasants e.g. Lady Amherst's,

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

and Reeves's pheasants. Natural

pheasant Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family Phasianidae in the order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera native range is restricted to Eurasia ...

and

grouse Grouse are a group of birds from the order Galliformes, in the family Phasianidae. Grouse are presently assigned to the tribe Tetraonini (formerly the subfamily Tetraoninae and the family Tetraonidae), a classification supported by mitochondria ...

hybrids have been reported: * Capercaillie or wood grouse (''Tetrao urogallus'') and

black grouse The black grouse (''Lyrurus tetrix''), also known as northern black grouse, Eurasian black grouse, blackgame or blackcock, is a large game bird in the grouse family. It is a sedentary species, spanning across the Palearctic in moorland and step ...

(''Tetrao tetrix'') in the UK * Dusky or

blue grouse The genus ''Dendragapus'' contains two closely related species of grouse that have often been treated as a single variable taxon (blue grouse). The two species are the dusky grouse (''Dendragapus obscurus'') and the sooty grouse (''Dendragapus ...

(''Dendragapus obscurus'') and common pheasant (''Phasianus colchicus'') near Portland, Oregon, United States *

Sharp-tailed grouse The sharp-tailed grouse (''Tympanuchus phasianellus''), also known as the sharptail or fire grouse, is a medium-sized prairie grouse. One of three species in the genus '' Tympanuchus'', the sharp-tailed grouse is found throughout Alaska, much of ...

(''Tympanuchus phasianellus'') and

prairie chicken ''Tympanuchus'' is a small genus of birds in the grouse family. They are commonly referred to as prairie chickens. Taxonomy The genus ''Tympanuchus'' was introduced in 1841 by the German zoologist Constantin Wilhelm Lambert Gloger for the grea ...

(''Tympanuchus cupido'') *

Willow ptarmigan The willow ptarmigan () (''Lagopus lagopus'') is a bird in the grouse subfamily Tetraoninae of the pheasant family Phasianidae. It is also known as the willow grouse and in Ireland and Britain, where the subspecies '' L. l. scotica'' was prev ...

(''Lagopus lagopus'') and

spruce grouse The spruce grouse (''Canachites canadensis''), also known as Canada grouse, spruce hen or fool hen, is a medium-sized grouse closely associated with the coniferous boreal forests or taiga of North America. It is the only member of the genus ''C ...

(''Falcipennis canadensis'')

Chicken hybrids

Charles Darwin mentioned crosses between domestic fowl and pheasants in ''

Origin of Species ''On the Origin of Species'' (or, more completely, ''On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life''),The book's full original title was ''On the Origin of Species by Me ...

..from observations communicated to me by Mr. Hewitt, who has had great experience in hybridising pheasants and fowls

and later in ''

'' (top of this page), where he mentioned effeminate behaviour in the male hybrids. In her book ''Bird Hybrids'', A. P. Gray lists numerous crosses between

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adu ...

s (''Gallus gallus'') and other types of fowl.Gray Annie. P, 1958. Bird hybrids. Commonwealth Agri. Bureau, Farnham Royal, Bucks, England. Robt. Cunningham and Sons, Alva, Scotland. 1-390. Domestic fowl can be crossed, and produce fertile offspring, with

silver pheasant The silver pheasant (''Lophura nycthemera'') is a species of pheasant found in forests, mainly in mountains, of mainland Southeast Asia and eastern and southern China, with an introduced population on Victoria Island in Nahuel Huapi Lake, Neu ...

red junglefowl The red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus'') is a tropical bird in the family Phasianidae. It ranges across much of Southeast Asia and parts of South Asia. It was formerly known as the Bankiva or Bankiva Fowl. It is the species that gave rise to the ...

and

green junglefowl The green junglefowl (''Gallus varius''), also known as Javan junglefowl, forktail or green Javanese junglefowl, is the most distantly related and the first to diverge at least 4 million years ago among the four species of the junglefowl. ...

. They have also produced hybrids with

peafowl Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera '' Pavo'' and '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female peafowl are ref ...

chachalaca Chachalacas are galliform birds from the genus ''Ortalis''. These birds are found in wooded habitats in the far southern United States (Texas), Mexico, and Central and South America. They are social, can be very noisy and often remain fairly c ...

s, capercaillie,

quail Quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds generally placed in the order Galliformes. The collective noun for a group of quail is a flock, covey, or bevy. Old World quail are placed in the family Phasianidae, and New ...

curassows The chachalacas, guans and curassows are birds in the family Cracidae. These are species of tropical and subtropical Central and South America. The range of one species, the plain chachalaca, just reaches southernmost parts of Texas in the Unite ...

s and guans. Domestic fowl have been crossed with

guineafowl Guineafowl (; sometimes called "pet speckled hens" or "original fowl") are birds of the family Numididae in the order Galliformes. They are endemic to Africa and rank among the oldest of the gallinaceous birds. Phylogenetically, they branched ...

Ghigi A. 1936. "Galline di faraone e tacchini" Milano (Ulrico Hoepli) and also with common pheasant (''Phasianus colchicus''). Domestic fowl/pheasant hybrids have also occurred naturally.Serebrovsky, A. S. 1929. Observations on interspecific hybrids of the fowl. J. Genetics 21: 327-340. Domestic chickens and Japanese quail ('' Coturnix japonica'') have been hybridised using

artificial insemination Artificial insemination is the deliberate introduction of sperm into a female's cervix or uterine cavity for the purpose of achieving a pregnancy through in vivo fertilization by means other than sexual intercourse. It is a fertility treatment ...

. The

(''Pavo cristatus'') from Asia and the common

(''Numida meleagris'') from Africa have been crossed.

Chicken and turkey hybrids

There have been attempted crosses between domestic turkeys (''Meleagris gallapavo'') and chickens. According to Gray, no hybrids hatched in twelve studies. Other reports found only a few fertile eggs were produced and very few resulted in advance

embryos An embryo is an initial stage of development of a multicellular organism. In organisms that reproduce sexually, embryonic development is the part of the life cycle that begins just after fertilization of the female egg cell by the male spe ...

. According to Olsen, 23 hybrids were obtained from 302 embryos which resulted from 2,132 eggs. Dark Cornish cockerels and

Rhode Island Red The Rhode Island Red is an American breed of domestic chicken. It is the state bird of Rhode Island. It was developed there and in Massachusetts in the late nineteenth century, by cross-breeding birds of Oriental origin such as the Malay wit ...

cockerels successfully fertilised turkey eggs. Harada & Buss reported hybridisation experiments between

Beltsville Small White The Beltsville Small White is a breed of domestic turkey. The bird was named after its physical characteristics—a relatively small size and entirely white plumage—as well as its place of origin: the United States Department of Agriculture's ...

Turkeys and two strains of chickens. When male chickens inseminated female turkeys, both male and female embryos form, but the males are much less viable and usually die in the early stages of development. When male turkeys inseminated female chickens, no hybrids resulted; however, the unfertilised chicken eggs began to divide. According to Olsen, turkey-chicken crosses produced all males. A supposed turkey × pheasant hybrid was reported by Edwards in 1761.

Duck hybrids

also described duck hybrids in ''The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication'':

Hybrids are often raised between the common and musk duck, and I have been assured by three persons, who have kept these crossed birds, that they were not wild; but Mr. Garnett (13/45. As stated by Mr. Orton in his 'Physiology of Breeding' page 12.) observed that his hybrids were wild, and exhibited 'migratory propensities' of which there is not a vestige in the common or musk duck.

Hybrids between mallard ducks and

Aylesbury duck The Aylesbury duck is a breed of domesticated duck, bred mainly for its meat and appearance. It is a large duck with pure white plumage, a pink bill, orange legs and feet, an unusually large keel, and a horizontal stance with its body parallel ...

s (a white domestic breed derived from the mallard) are frequently seen in British parks where the two types are present. The hybrids often resemble a dark coloured mallard with a white breast. Mallard ducks also hybridise with the

Muscovy duck The Muscovy duck (''Cairina moschata'') is a large duck native to the Americas, from the Rio Grande Valley of Texas and Mexico south to Argentina and Uruguay. Small wild and feral breeding populations have established themselves in the United St ...

producing

pied A piebald or pied animal is one that has a pattern of unpigmented spots (white) on a pigmented background of hair, feathers or scales. Thus a piebald black and white dog is a black dog with white spots. The animal's skin under the white backgro ...

offspring. Hybrids between the

ruddy duck The ruddy duck (''Oxyura jamaicensis'') is a duck from North America and one of the stiff-tailed ducks. The genus name is derived from Ancient Greek ''oxus'', "sharp", and ''oura'', "tail", and ''jamaicensis'' is "from Jamaica". Taxonomy The r ...

and

white-headed duck The white-headed duck (''Oxyura leucocephala'') is a small diving duck some long. The male has a white head with black crown, a blue bill, and reddish-grey plumage. The female has a dark bill and rather duller colouring. Its breeding habitat is ...

are undesirable in parts of Europe where the introduced ruddy duck has bred with native white-headed ducks. The increasing number of ruddy ducks and hybrids threatens the existence of the white-headed ducks, resulting in shooting campaigns to remove the introduced species. This is controversial as some believe that nature should be allowed to take its course, even though this favours the more successful

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ther ...

. Duck-chicken chimera was prepared by transferring donor germ cells into embryo cavity of zygote. The transfer of dermal cells into recipient embryos to produce chimerism provides a basis for studying the barriers to fertilization in interspecific reproductive chimerism. This will help protect endangered birds, contribute to a better understanding of poultry physiology and embryonic development, and provide technical methods for poultry transgenic. Hybrid

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form ...

s of the genus ''

Aythya ''Aythya'' is a genus of diving ducks. It has twelve described species. The name ''Aythya'' comes from the Ancient Greek word (), which may have referred to a sea-dwelling duck or an auklet. ''Aythya shihuibas'' was described from the Late Mi ...

'' include birds that are a mixture of

tufted duck The tufted duck or tufted pochard (''Aythya fuligula'') is a small diving duck with a population of close to one million birds, found in northern Eurasia. The scientific name is derived from Ancient Greek '' aithuia'', an unidentified seabird ment ...

greater scaup The greater scaup (''Aythya marila''), just scaup in Europe or, colloquially, "bluebill" in North America, is a mid-sized diving duck, larger than the closely related lesser scaup. It spends the summer months breeding in Alaska, northern Canad ...

pochard Pochard is a common name used for several species of diving ducks: *Four species in the genus ''Aythya'': ** Common pochard, ''Aythya ferina'' ** Baer's pochard, ''Aythya baeri'' ** Ferruginous pochard, ''Aythya nyroca'' ** Madagascar pochard, '' ...

ferruginous duck The ferruginous duck (''Aythya nyroca''), also known as ferruginous pochard, common white-eye or white-eyed pochard, is a medium-sized diving duck from Eurosiberia. The scientific name is derived from Greek '' aithuia'' an unidentified seabir ...

and

ring-necked duck The ring-necked duck (''Aythya collaris'') is a diving duck from North America commonly found in freshwater ponds and lakes. The scientific name is derived from Greek , an unidentified seabird mentioned by authors including Hesychius and Arist ...

. List of duck hybrids: *

Northern pintail The pintail or northern pintail (''Anas acuta'') is a duck species with wide geographic distribution that breeds in the northern areas of Europe and across the Palearctic and North America. It is migratory and winters south of its breeding ...

× mallard *Ruddy duck ×

*Ruddy shelduck × shelduck *White-faced whistling duck × plumed whistling duck *Baikal teal × northern pintail *Hooded merganser × smew *Eurasian wigeon × American wigeon *Mallard × grey duck, a subspecies of the Pacific black duck. ''See also'' Mariana mallard.

Goose hybrids

Goose hybrids include Canada goose × greylag goose, Canada goose × domesticated geese, emperor goose × Canada goose, red-breasted goose × Canada goose, Canada goose × white-fronted goose and barnacle goose × Canada goose.

References

* Darwin, Charles. ''The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication''. * Darwin, Charles. ''Origin of Species''.

External links

Bird Hybrids Database

Ruddy ducks: a conservation problem
:''This article uses content fro

licensed under the GFDL.'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Gamebird Hybrids Hybridisation in birds Game birds, Hybrids Intergeneric hybrids