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November 7 (UPI) – Scientists have discovered in Pennsylvania a hybrid warbler composed of three species, a rarity.
The bird, documented by ornithologists at Cornell University, is the product of a hybrid mother and a father of a distinct kind. This is the first time that scientists identify such a reproductive trifecta.
"It's extremely rare," said David Toews, a postdoctoral fellow at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, in a press release. "The female is a hybrid of Golden-winged / Blue-winged Warbler – also known as Brewster's Warbler, then mated with a Brown-leaved Warbler and successfully bred."
Lowell Burket, an avid ornithophile of Roaring Spring, Penn., First noticed the hybrid warbler last spring. He described the unusual bird on eBird.org and referred it to a Cornell researcher.
"I tried to give the e-mail a somewhat intellectual note, so that they do not believe I was a crackpot," Burket said. "Have the photos and the video aided In a week, researcher David Toews arrived, we found the bird and took a blood sample and took action."
The analysis of blood samples confirmed the new genetic heritage of the bird. The researchers were able to identify the genetic coding inherited from the mother and father of the bird.
"We confirmed that the mother would have looked like a Brewster's Warbler and that the father was a Brown-breasted Warbler," Toews said.
Hybridization in Golden-winged and Blue-winged Warblers is common, but both species have never been documented prior to mating with Brown-sided Warblers.
Hybrids are more common among declining populations. With fewer partners to choose from, birds are sometimes forced to make contact with nearby species.
"The fact that this hybridization occurred within a population in significant decline of the Golden-winged Warbler suggests that females make the most of a bad situation," said Toews. "It also tells us that wood warblers in general have remained genetically compatible long after they have evolved significantly in appearance."
The researchers described the new hybrid this week in the journal Biology Letters. Toews and his colleagues plan to continue to monitor this unusual bird to see how its hybrid appearance affects its ability to find its own companion.
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