Breeding

[ellsiebird]

had a strange trail of thought..

how come parrots cant inter breed across there species?
I assume its just genetics, but i also thought, all breeds of dogs/cats etc can do it.... so why not birds??!!

 

[skycon]

I have always been fascinated by these thoughts. A breed is a type of domestic animal which through selective breeding has come up with a consistent physical appearance. A breed of dog is within the Canis lupus familiars species and a completely different species than that of a wolf. When different species are bred together, you get a hybrid as opposed to a mix breed. This is the same as with parrots. They are considered to be hybrids.

However, some species are not able to be bred together as we all know. For instance, you cannot breed a dog to a cat. This is because of the genetic makeup. Some species, like a horse and a donkey, can be bred together but the offspring will be sterile.

EDIT// I forgot to mention that to breed different species they must be closely related and most are within the same genus. For instance, both the dog and the wolf are within the genus Canidae. Breed them together and you get a hybrid.

 

[ellsiebird]

hmm wouldnt it be cool though if you could cross parrots to create these hybrids.. (for example a Mcaw to a too) you could really get some amazing and weird looking birds from this.

You can breed a domestic dog with a wolf... so is it possible (if we ignore the obvious size complecations) to cross a domestic cat to a lion??!! baring in mind the poor thing doesnt get eaten!

 

[Ratzy]

I think controlled hybridising is illegal here.
Good thing too.

 

[BanalityBob]

There are a lot of differences genetically between say an Umbrella Cockatoo and a Blue & Gold Macaw which prevent interbreeding. However, there is a certain amount of hybridyzing in the parrot world. For example, many Macaw species can make hybrids.

For example:
Miligold= Blue & Gold Macaw+ Military Macaw
Catalina Macaw= Blue & Gold Macaw + Scarlet Macaw
And there are a bunch of these. Not my fave (I think the birds end up looking like rainbow sherbet), but they do have some amazing colors.

I do know there are a bunch of ones with Conures too, like a Sunday which is a Sun + a Jenday (or Nanday maybe, I can't remember), and the rescue I got Penelope from has a St. Thomas Conure + Nanday Conure hybrid. I recall reading an article years and years ago too about a lot of Green Cheek/Black Cap/Maroon Bellied Conure hybrids too.

Some of these do happen in the wild, but most are captive stuff. I'm not a huge fan of it, because it's mostly done to make a "prettier" bird, which lends to the "birds as furniture or possession" mindset that we all know leads to abuse and neglect. Still, from what I've heard, certain ones of the Macaw hybrids help dilute nippiness that can happen in certain Macaw species (specifically Scarlet). Still, that may just be the individual birds. I have read stories about hybrids that just accidentally happened because the owners had a bunch of Macaws and two "just fell in love," but personally, if I ever get a bird laying eggs, the eggs are hitting the trash can ASAP, especially if there's a chance of the babies being hybrids.

 

[ellsiebird]

I am with you against the Hybrids as i am aware that they would become figures rather than animals and can even become defective for there natural purposes...

i just think it would be intresting...

so parrots can breed amongst there sub-species, just not with any other!?!!

 

[BanalityBob]

Actually

Link to teaching tool

Many species can interbreed with members of their genus.

So,
Sun Conure and Jenday Conure. Both in the Genus Aratinga and are closely related, thus can interbreed. However, breeding one step higher up the chain is (I believe) impossible, meaning that a Conure could not interbreed with a Quaker.