Index of bird hybrid topics

This index covers pages on general topics that relate to bird hybrids in general.  For an index of specific bird hybrids covered by the project go to the Index of Bird Hybrids.

These are the pages we have so far:

• What is a hybrid? (hint: it's not a cross-breed) - explaining what a bird hybrid is and clarifying that this project is seeking to improve understanding of hybrids between different species of birds, not cross-breeds between different domestic breeds

• Hybrid or intergrade - exploring when it's appropriate to use the term "intergrade" instead of (or as well as) "hybrid"

• Hybrids showing traits that do not appear in either parent species - some examples of hybrids that show features not associated with either parent, and some thoughts as to why that might be

• Fertility and viability of hybrid - some hybrids are fertile, some don't seem to be, and others may not even survive to maturity

• Intersex birds (and their confusion with hybrids) - a bit about intersex birds, relevant to bird hybrids because (a) they may be misidentified as hybrids and (b) they may be more frequent among hybrids

• Conservation issues arising from hybridisation - an article that needs more work but introduces some examples of conservation issues that arise when genetic purity of a species is threatened by the introduction of a closely related species

• Hybrid speciation - a look at how a population of hybrids can become a new species if they become reproductively isolated from their parent species

• Vagrancy of bird hybrids - a completely unproven hunch that some hybrids may be more prone to vagrancy than pure birds, and its potential relevance to record assessment

Please remember that some of the information given within these pages is not intended to be stated as fact, but theories open to be tested.  As with the pages for specific hybrids, we are on a journey of learning.  By throwing out ideas and making them available for others to test we hope to gain a greater understanding.  Some will be supported by others' observations and so become more robust, but others may be disproved by others' studies and we will need to change them or withdraw them.  All we ask is that you share your experiences so that we can learn and improve our knowledge.


Specifically relating to this project, we have the following pages:

• About Bird Hybrids - setting out what the Bird Hybrids project is all about

• How to contribute - outlining how you can help support and contribute to the Bird Hybrids project (we want to encourage you to participate - comment, suggest, challenge, share your insight or allow us to use your photos)

• Index of Bird Hybrids - clickable list of all the various hybrids covered by this project so far

• Latest updates - see what's new in the project!  Any new pages, or new photos added to existing pages, or any significant updates to existing pages, will be detailed here.  So if you've not stopped by for a while and want to see what's changed, check here first.

If you have any other topics you would like us to explore then let us know - or if you can write an article for us that would be even better!