Hybrid birds

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About Hybrid birds

This is a group for hybrid birds. Hybrid birds are those whose two parents belong to DIFFERENT SPECIES.

This group is not for domestic birds (usually ducks) which are crosses between different domestic breeds - they are the same species and so do not count as hybrids.

Although there are certain families of birds that are particularly prone to hybridisation (especially wildfowl and gulls) hybrids can crop up in many different families of birds. Click here for an index of all the hybrids that appear in this group.

You are welcome to post photographs of hybrid birds. It's helpful if you can include in the caption or title the species that you believe the parents to be but often it is not possible to be certain of a hybrids' parentage - it's still OK to post them if that's the case, but they must be hybrids. Photos that appear to be pure species will be removed.

Each type of hybrid represented in the pool has its own thread showing examples of photos from the pool. The easiest way to access these threads is via the index.


Here are some of my favourites:


Teal x Mallard hybrid by Henry Lehto


Common Goldeneye x Bufflehead hybrid by Jim Craig


Capercaillie x Black Grouse hybrid ("Rackelhahn") by Carl-Gunnar Gustavsson


Pheasant x domestic Chicken hybrid by Joern Lehmhus


Rufous Hummingbird x Anna's Hummingbird hybrid by Michael Hamilton


Red-backed Shrike x Woodchat Shrike hybrid by Sam Maas


Golden-winged Warbler x Blue-winged Warbler hybrid ("Brewster's Warbler") by Phil Jeffrey