Halfling

[Wolf]

I thought that there was a post on here concerning this bird, but it could easily have been on another site that I visit regularly. Regardless it is still a fascinating bird. http://phys.org/news/2015-01-publishes- ... -wild.html

[liz]

Is this for real? How did it get that way?

[Wolf]

It is for real! it is a genetic anomaly and does not occur often but it is real. It is both male and female.

[Pajarita]

Yes, I posted it some time ago. It's the same as the budgie halfsiders: two different embryos that fused into one.

[liz]

Like the mule of birds? It is sterile?

[Wolf]

Probably , most of them are. In fact I don't think that a fertile one has ever been found.

[Fidget]

Oh neat! I've only seen this (gynandromorphy) in butterflies (photos) and in a walking stick in one of our colonies (in real life). I wonder how often this happens in non sexually dimorphic birds?? You wouldn't see the effects like you do in the cardinal.

[Pajarita]

Well, budgies are almost monomorphic (the difference is in the color of the cere and not the plumage) and you can tell if the father is a different color mutation than the mother (see here:http://halfsider.com/).

But, no, Liz, they are not like mules. I don't know if you are referring to the equine mule (jack father and mare mother) or the avian mule (canary and finch) but those are hybrids (offspring of two different species). These are the product of the same species only, very early in the beginning of the formation of the embryo when there are only a few cells, one of the cells doesn't split its chromosomes as it should and it ends up split into one cell that carries male and another one that carries female and, as the development continues, you end up with an individual that has the genetic characteristics of two.