tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278510471239667560.post3519292924116815595..comments2024-03-28T19:47:03.214+00:00Comments on Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park birds: Ralph Hancockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11686354797977020917noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278510471239667560.post-45949312584313691452018-01-14T22:41:21.018+00:002018-01-14T22:41:21.018+00:00Birds seem to copy with hybridisation more easily ...Birds seem to copy with hybridisation more easily than mammals. (And with inbreeding.) The Canada--Greylag hybrid geese have parents of two different genera, let alone species -- as far as genus and species are genuine concepts now that taxonomy has got so fragmented -- and are sterile. Hybrids between Herring Gulls and Lesser Black-Backs are fertile, and no doubt this applies to all the closely related largish <i>Larus</i> species. I think that <i>Aythya</i> hybrids, such as the Pochard--Tufted Duck hybrids we have on the Long Water, are also fertile.Ralph Hancockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11686354797977020917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278510471239667560.post-56675350552524559392018-01-14T15:15:52.380+00:002018-01-14T15:15:52.380+00:00One owl a day keeps the blues away! (or was it app...One owl a day keeps the blues away! (or was it apples and doctors?).<br /><br />Regarding hybrids, I've always wondered how hybrid gulls, ducks and geese are able to have offspring. They are different species, right? It's not like dogs or cats or pigeons.TinĂºvielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04794275230697959519noreply@blogger.com