Gamebird hybrids are the result of crossing species of game birds, including

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

s, with each other and with domestic poultry. These hybrid 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 Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

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 (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; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

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's native range is restricted to Eura ...

and

grouse Grouse are a group of birds from the order (biology), order Galliformes, in the family (biology), family Phasianidae. Grouse are presently assigned to the Tribe (biology), tribe Tetraonini (formerly the subfamily Tetraoninae and the family Tetr ...

hybrids have been reported: * Capercaillie or wood grouse (''Tetrao urogallus'') and black grouse (''Tetrao tetrix'') in the UK * Dusky or blue grouse (''Dendragapus obscurus'') and common pheasant (''Phasianus colchicus'') near Portland, Oregon, United States * Sharp-tailed grouse (''Tympanuchus phasianellus'') and prairie chicken (''Tympanuchus cupido'') *

Willow ptarmigan The willow ptarmigan ( ); ''Lagopus lagopus'') or willow grouse is a bird in the grouse subfamily Tetraoninae of the pheasant family Phasianidae. It is also known colloquially as awebo bird. The willow ptarmigan breeds in birch and other forests ...

(''Lagopus lagopus'') and spruce grouse (''Falcipennis canadensis'')

Chicken hybrids

Charles Darwin mentioned crosses between domestic fowl and pheasants in '' Origin of Species''

..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 subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

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. It is introduced on Victoria Island in Nahuel Huapi Lake, Neuquén, Argenti ...

red junglefowl The red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), also known as the Indian red junglefowl (and formerly the bankiva or bankiva-fowl), is a species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the a ...

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 two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...

, chachalacas,

capercaillie ''Tetrao'' is a genus of birds in the grouse subfamily known as capercaillies. They are some of the largest living grouse. Feathers from the bird were used to create the characteristic hat of the bersaglieri, an Italian ace infantry formation. ...

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,

s and guans. Domestic fowl have been crossed with

guineafowl Guinea fowl () (or guineahen) 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 off from the core Galliformes after the C ...

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 gallopavo'') 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

embryo An embryo ( ) is the initial stage of development for 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 sp ...

s. According to Olsen, 23 hybrids were obtained from 302 embryos which resulted from 2,132 eggs. Dark Cornish cockerels and Rhode Island Red cockerels successfully fertilised turkey eggs. Harada & Buss reported hybridisation experiments between Beltsville Small White 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. A hybrid between a turkey and Ocellated turkey was reported in 1956.

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 The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa. It has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Arge ...

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 t ...

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 duck native to the Americas, from the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas and Mexico south to Argentina and Uruguay. The species has been Domestic Muscovy duck, domesticated, and feral Muscovy ducks can b ...

producing pied offspring. Hybrids between the ruddy duck and white-headed duck 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

s of the genus '' Aythya'' 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 nearly one million birds, found in northern Eurasia. They are partially migratory. The scientific name is derived from Ancient Greek , an unide ...

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 and tufted duck. It spends the summer months breeding in Iceland ...

, pochard, ferruginous duck and ring-necked duck. List of duck hybrids: *

Northern pintail The pintail or northern pintail (''Anas acuta'') is a duck species with wide geographic Range (biology), distribution that breeds in the northern areas of Europe and across the Palearctic and North America. It is bird migration, migratory an ...

* Ruddy duck × white-headed duck * Ruddy shelduck × shelduck * White-faced whistling duck × plumed whistling duck * Baikal teal ×

northern pintail The pintail or northern pintail (''Anas acuta'') is a duck species with wide geographic Range (biology), distribution that breeds in the northern areas of Europe and across the Palearctic and North America. It is bird migration, migratory an ...

* Hooded merganser × smew *

Eurasian wigeon The Eurasian wigeon or European wigeon (''Mareca penelope''), also known as the widgeon or the wigeon, is one of three species of wigeon in the dabbling duck genus ''Mareca''. It is common and widespread within its Palearctic range. Taxonomy T ...

× American wigeon *

Mallard The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa. It has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Arge ...

× grey duck, a subspecies of the

Pacific black duck The Pacific black duck (''Anas superciliosa''), commonly known as the PBD, is a dabbling duck found in much of Indonesia, New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, and many islands in the southwestern Pacific, reaching to the Caroline Islands in the no ...

. ''See also'' Mariana mallard.

Goose hybrids

Goose A goose (: geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera '' Anser'' (grey geese and white geese) and '' Branta'' (black geese). Some members of the Tadorninae subfamily (e.g., Egy ...

hybrids include

Canada goose The Canada goose (''Branta canadensis''), sometimes called Canadian goose, is a large species of goose with a black head and neck, white cheeks, white under its chin, and a brown body. It is native to the arctic and temperate regions of North A ...

greylag goose The greylag goose (''Anser anser'') is a species of large goose in the waterfowl family Anatidae and the type species of the genus ''Anser (bird), Anser''. It has mottled and barred grey and white plumage and an orange beak and pink legs. A lar ...

, Canada goose × domesticated geese,

emperor goose The emperor goose (''Anser canagicus''), also known as the beach goose or the painted goose, is a waterfowl species in the family Anatidae, which contains the ducks, geese, and swans. In summer, the emperor goose is found in remote coastal areas ...

× Canada goose, red-breasted goose × Canada goose, Canada goose × white-fronted goose and

barnacle goose The barnacle goose (''Branta leucopsis'') is a species of goose that belongs to the genus ''Branta'' of black geese, which contains species with extensive black in the plumage, distinguishing them from the grey ''Anser (genus), Anser'' species. D ...

× 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 Hybrids Intergeneric hybrids