Subject: Another hybrid question.
Date: Jan 17 09:14:58 1997
From: Tom Besser - tbesser at vetmed.wsu.edu


> >scott931 at uidaho.edu (Patrick Scott) wrote:
> >
> > My question is: with hybrids such as this (Or any bird, I suppose, which
> > defies ID by observation), how does one find out for sure
> > what species the bird is?
> >
> On Thu, 16 Jan 1997, Alan Richards added:
> >
> > I also have been curious about this -- if one has
> > the bird in-hand, is there some kind of DNA analysis,
> > or what? that happens -- I vaguely remember reading
> > about birds wh/ were xx% Glaucous-winged, or some
> > such -- is this really measurable, or was this some
> > sort of stochastic guesswork?

I've also been pondering identification of a (different) hybrid. For most
of December and into January I've had a N. Flicker coming to suet and
sunflower feeders. The bird has bright yellow shafts, but red whisker
mark, grey face and brownish crown and no marking on the back of the neck,
and I've been calling it a Y-shafted x R-shafted hybrid (although I'm not
sure that the term hybrid is accurate when describing sub-species
intergrades). I noticed in my field guides that this bird fits the
description of a Gilded Flicker pretty well, and I've been pondering the
question of how one would distinguish a Gilded Flicker (if one were closer
to the normal range of that bird) from a N. Flicker intergrade that
happened to have the particular characteristics of the Gilded. I've been
planning to hit the library to learn a little more about this before
shooting my mouth off, but this question seems to fit the hybrid
identification thread so I thought I'd send it out.

Tom

(Not ready to add GIFL to the yard list yet, but JUST GIVE ME A LITTLE
ENCOURAGEMENT...)

...........................................................
Thomas E. Besser Phone:(509)335-6075
WA Animal Disease Diagnostic Lab FAX: (509) 335-8529
Pullman WA 99164-7040 tbesser at vetmed.wsu.edu