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Tony and
others,
HANZAB (Vol1 Part B Page 1332)
has a section on "Hybrid ducks" which seems to be tucked
away and hard to find.
For Hardhead it lists possible hybrids as "specimen in
SA Museum claimed to be male from hybrid with Mallard".
For Chestnut Teal it lists hybrids with
Northern Pintail, Bahama Pintail, Cape Teal, Falcated Teal , European Wigeon,
Gadwall, Brazilian Teal, Southern Pochard and remarkably with Long-tailed Duck.
It seems most, if not all, of these hybrids have been produced in captive
situations rather than wild situations (for example Chestnut Teal and
Long-tailed Ducks don't normally come into contact in the wild
:)). Regardless, it shows that it is possible for duck species from two
different genera to produce hybrids.
Cheers,
Rohan
Dr Rohan Clarke
Threatened Mallee Bird
Project
Zoology Department
La Trobe University
Bundoora 3086
Ph: 03
9479 1672 Mobile 0408 947001
-----Original Message-----
From:
[On Behalf Of Tony
Russell
Sent: Friday, 9 July 2004 3:39 PM
To:
birding-aus
Subject: [BIRDING-AUS] Hybrid
?
Hi all, the unusual duck currently at Werribee is thought to be either a
very rare Baer's Pochard or an unusual hybrid of Hardhead crossed with a
Chestnut Teal. I guess we are all waiting with bated breath to hear the
conclusion finally drawn by the experts.
In the meantime I'd like to point out that if it is indeed a hybrid, it's
a cross between an Anas and an Aythya, two different duck
species.
We all know about Mallards crossing with Pacific Blacks, an Anas with an
Anas, ducks in the same family grouping, but is there any information
regarding how frequently this type of cross species hybridization occurs
?
(Maybe animals are more like humans than we realise, they'll take
anything if they are desperate enough !)
Curious.
Tony.
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