Ornithologists have taken a photo of an incredibly rare specimen: a half-male, half-female green honeycreeper. The bird combines the yellow-green feathers of the male version and the aqua-blue plumage of the female. Amateur ornithologist John Murillo spotted the incredibly rare bird at a feeding station on a nature reserve.
Birdwatching can be a fun and relaxing hobby, but it also plays an important role in animal conservation. Ornithologists or bird experts enable us to spot these enigmatic flying creatures to learn more about them. More importantly, we can find ways to preserve them. The green honeycreeper is also a sight to behold!
This article will discuss how an amateur bird enthusiast found this rare winged critter. Later, I will share other unique animal discoveries.
How did we discover this rare bird?
The green honeycreeper, or Chlorphanes spiza, is a bird commonly found in Central and South America. However, the rarest variety features the appearances of the male and female.
It has shimmering yellow-green and aqua-blue feathers. On the other hand, most males have bright blue plumage and black heads, and the females are grass-green all over.
We haven’t spotted one for over a century until now. Amateur ornithologist John Murillo photographed one at a bird-feeding station on a small farm in a nature reserve near Manizales, Columbia.
Then, he pointed out the extraordinary bird to Hamish Spencer, a professor of zoology at New Zealand’s University of Otago. ScienceAlert says bilateral gynandromorphism causes the unusual split in its coloring.
BG refers to the cell division that creates an egg, enabling two different sperm cells to fertilize it. “Many birdwatchers could go their whole lives and not see a bilateral gynandromorph in any species of bird,” says Spencer.
“The phenomenon is extremely rare in birds, I know of no examples from New Zealand ever. It is very striking, I was very privileged to see it,” he added. The green honeycreeper returned to feed on the fresh fruit and sugar water at the reserve over 21 months.
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“The bird was not present every day, however. Indeed, it appeared to stay in the vicinity for periods of about 4–6 weeks and then vanish for another 8 weeks or so,” the experts wrote in their paper.
“In general, it avoided others of its species, and the others also avoided it; it seems unlikely, therefore, that this individual would have had any opportunity to reproduce,” they added.
Bilateral gynandromorphism is one of the animal kingdom’s wonders. Consequently, Spencer says we should “treasure exceptions” in nature and always “be on the lookout for oddities.”
Other animal discoveries
We’ve also discovered another unique animal in South America: a dog-fox hybrid! National Geographic named this female hybrid “Dogxim.” it is a portmanteau of “dog” and “graxaim do campo,” the Portuguese name for Pampas fox.
The experts determined the animal combo had 76, the same as the maned wolf or Chrysocyon brachyurus. However, its characteristics disqualified it as a possible parent of this hybrid.
Domestic dogs have 78 chromosomes, and Pampas foxes have 74. Consequently, scientists believe the dog-fox hybrid’s 76 chromosomes may indicate “the first evidence of the hybridization.”
Second, geneticists checked its mitochondrial DNA, which would exclusively originate from its mother. They discovered it came from a Pampas fox. Examining its nuclear DNA revealed genetic information from a Pampas fox and a dog.
Biologist Roland Kays highlighted how unique this dog-fox cross is. “Generally, in mammals, species breed with their own kind. Sometimes, if they haven’t been separated by that long of an evolutionary time period, you can get different species breeding.”
“We see this happen with coyotes and wolves, occasionally, but this tends to occur when one of the animals is very common in a region, and the other is very rare.”
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Rafael Kretschmer from the Universidade Federal de Pelotas shared ways a dog and a Pampas fox met and bred. First, Pampas foxes may have spread into domestic dog territory after losing their natural habitat to cattle ranches and human settlements.
The overlapping territories give them more opportunities to mate. Also, Dogxim study co-author Bruna Szynwelski said abandoned dogs could be another factor.
“The practice of abandoning dogs is a crime in Brazil, but it still happens frequently. Pets and hunting dogs are often abandoned in natural areas by their owners, contributing to greater occurrence of dogs in natural habitats, including protected areas.”
Conclusion
An amateur ornithologist spotted a rare version of the green honeycreeper. Experts say the bird’s unique coloration results from a cell division error.
Nevertheless, the winged creature shimmers with its aqua-blue and yellow-green feathers. As Professor Hamish Spencer said, “Many birdwatchers could go their whole lives and not see a bilateral gynandromorph in any species of bird.”
Learn more about the green honeycreeper discovery in the Journal of Field Ornithology. Check out more digital tips and trends at Inquirer Tech.