Hybrid Parrots - Wonderful Or Wrong ?

[chris-md]

Phoenix, very close but not true. Artificial selection fully depends on variation and in fact itself creates variation where there previous was little. Often yes through inbreeding but not always. All dog breed derived from the humble wolf of little variation.

Look up the the Russian fix breeding experiment and you'll get a different perspective.

Artificial selection is how well also got so many different fruit and vegetable varieties for consumption. True, some like apples can result not from breeding but a random mutation of a single branch.

Orchid hybridizers have taken artificial selection to an art form and created an entire mass production industry out of artificial selection.

It's all in HOW artificial selection is applied. Unto itself it's not a bad thing.

 

[Phoenixjay]

No, I definitely agree. Artificial selection isn't a bad thing. It can be used in the wrong ways. The real debate is which ways are wrong and where we draw the line. I didn't know about the variation bit. Thank you for correcting me.
I left plants out because there isn't as much of an ethical debate on artificial selection in plants at this moment (unless you count the weird GMO thing that everyone keeps misunderstanding).

 

[gavagai]

I used to be uncomfortable even with selectively breeding for color, since I felt that it suggested the appearance of the bird was more important than its personality. I still feel that way to a degree, especially since some color lines in some species are inbred and less healthy, but I'm no longer categorically opposed to it. However the main reason I'm OK with breeding birds for color is because of a Howard Voren article I read a long time ago (and linked in another thread), which noted that if you backbreed further generation hybrids to one parent species, it's pretty much impossible to breed out the other parent species.

Now, there are times when hybrids are OK or even necessary. A good example of this is the attempt to breed Chinese chestnut blight resistance into the American chestnut. And when I see a hobby breeder who pairs up a male and female of different species because they have surplus but mostly breed pure species, I try not to judge them to harshly, though I'd prefer they tried to find mates of the appropriate species/subspecies. But I really dislike the breeding of hybrids on a mass scale, and the presenting of hybrids as something special. I know of one breeder who claims to be the only breeder breeding sun/gold-cap crosses, and while they all come from one pair, suggesting it's a convenience match, I'm still really disappointed that they're not preserving the increasingly rare gold-caps.

Really, I think anyone who wants a hybrid should ask themself why. If the answer is "it's pretty," I personally don't think that's a good reason. Like I said, I'm still not the biggest fan even of breeding for color, but at least that maintains the purity and diversity of a species, meaning that colored lines could be bred back into the standard color lines (most mutations being recessive) if necessary for the conservation of the species. Hybrids are lost to conservation. (Though most conservationists also don't like hybrids of subspecies, meaning that many of our birds aren't useful to conservation anyways.) And if the answer is "it's unique," I think that suggests you're more interested in the bird more as a status symbol than the bird itself.

For example hybrid species of most of the larger Macaws, isn't necessarily a behavior forced by humans. It may not have been possible in nature due to regional differences, but once the birds were introduced the decision was ultimately theirs.

With most species, differences in plumage and vocalizations prevent hybridization if birds are allowed to pick their own mates. (Barring some exceptions, like the cherry-heads and mitreds on Telegraph Hill.) Creating hybrids is done by eliminating other mate choices, and hoping that the birds of different feathers will "settle" for each other.

 

[Violet_Diva]

Just saw this
http://www.parrotforums.com/cockatoos/72553-galah-x-cockatoo-cross.html
And remembered this thread

I recently saw a cross between a sulphur crested and a galah - described as a cockalar by the seller...

Kinda looks like a giant cockatiel

 

[MonicaMc]

That's a very cute chick! They do change appearance as they mature!


Without reading through this somewhat older thread... hybrids already occur in the wild and they are thriving.


I'd rather see hybrids that are clearly hybrids than hybrids that could be mistaken for a pure species.


https://www.flickr.com/groups/hybrid_parrots/

 

[LOU05LEW]

I was on YouTube when a suggested video popped up relating to hybrid parrots.

[ame="[MEDIA=youtube]mQWjWbzhrco[/MEDIA]"]Hybrid Parrots - YouTube[/ame]

I found the colours of the Camelot Macaw to be sublime and incredibly beautiful. I'm now interested in the controversy surrounding parrot hybrids - So thought I'd ask you fine experienced people!

What's your opinion on hybrid parrots?

Do you have a hybrid?

What do you see as the pros and cons?

Im very curious as to what you all think...

Hi Violet Diva I have a young what we are hoping is a female galah and we are wanting to breed her with a major mitchell cockatoo what are yours and everyone's thoughts on that thanks

 

[Terry57]

Hi Violet Diva I have a young what we are hoping is a female galah and we are wanting to breed her with a major mitchell cockatoo what are yours and everyone's thoughts on that thanks

Welcome to the forum!
Personally, I don't believe in purposefully breeding hybrids, although I know that a lot of people do.
They can have more health issues, and that chance can increase further down the breeding line.
I think Galahs are so beautiful without any mixing required