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Cheeta
Moderator
Joined: 06 Apr 2005
Posts: 7972
Location: Australia |
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I think the problem with such a practice (hybridization) is that, sure, it'll breed out the 'bad' quality in a 'pet' bird, and come out with a more 'desirable pet' so to speak... But parrots and other kept birds in my opinion should be kept as WILD birds with all their wild instincts and character traits intact.... not domesticated as the dogs or the cats which have been domesticated for such a long time already.
And another problem with the hybridization is that the process mixed up all the pure gene pools.. and over time, you may end up with a bird that looks like the original pure bred, but it's gene could never be pure again. once it's hybrid, it'll always be hybrid.. there's no going back.
Now with that in mind.. A lot of the parrots/cockatoos kept in aviary and cages are of the endangered list in the wild.. if for some reason, the wild population of a certain parrots/cockatoos become extinct in the wild, there's no way on earth you'd be able to bring the species back if all the pure breed stock in aviaries have been wiped out because of hybrids.
Now in saying that I do realised that natures do have their own ways, and sometime you do see a hybrid in the wild. That isn't wrong. What's wrong is people going out there to temper with the gene pool so that they can have a better looking bird, or a better behaved bird...
Now keep in mind that this in only my opinion.
Cheers
Bih |
Friday October 21, 2005 5:31 pm |
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Parfie
Fledgeling
Joined: 14 Oct 2005
Posts: 387
Location: Prineville, Oregon, USA |
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I agree with you Cheeta on most points.
I feel there are a lot more people in favor of keeping the bloodlines clean than in hybridizing them, so I'm fairly certain that we won't have that issue for some time to come, if ever.. and certainly not in our lifetimes.
I think for those that 'choose' to do this.. they need to be qualified. As in, it needs to be known to the public they are 'getting hybrids' prior to sale, and that the 'breeder' themselves are monitored and keep good studies of their work. Preferably with some training in biology or avian science.
And while there are cat and dog 'breed impurities'.. most all that have owned a 'mutt' will tell you that they have made the best 'pets'.
While I don't want my parrots to be 'bird free' as far as wild habits go, I can see both sides of the issue. I won't knowingly buy a hybrid, and I won't ever propegate a hybrid I ended up with.. cuz frankly, I'm just not that smart 
If they are gonna do it anyway, which appears to be happening more and more, then the least we could do is ask that they be diligent about disclosure and informing the buyer to never put it into a breeding program (band it a different way?) and have the hybridization be monitored some how.
Also, just my opinion.  |
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Sunday October 23, 2005 10:56 am |
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Vampiric_conure
Egg
Joined: 14 May 2006
Posts: 2
Location: Manitoba Canada |
| Just a correction on some facts |
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I want to correct a misconception about hybrids. Hybrids
DO
occur naturally. It happens with many species of passerines, grouse, quail, ducks and even with some species of parrot. Crosses between Mallards and pintailed ducks are regularly seen up here in central canada. In mammals it happens between wolves and coyotes, especially when territories merge. Wild hybrids are relatively rare, though. Domestically, we breed zebras and donkeys to horses and quail to chickens. I suspect they breed turkeys to another galliform, but I can't remember to what. I think it may be japanese quail.
Most folks feel it's bad to mix pure species together. They claim it taints the genetic pool and 'destroys' what is unique. Personally I feel hybrids have a use. If an animal is exceptionally rare in the wild, cross breeding it with a similar species (As what happened with the Florida panther) helps the rarer species get a better foot hold than if it had been left alone and with a dangerously inbred population.
As for domestic hybrids for the pet trade... **Sighs** I don't know. Hybrid breeding created the red factor canary, so I wouldn't say it's all bad. However, with severely endangered species I would have a problem with that, unless it was the only way to save the species in the wild and the species was closely related to the endangered species. Overall, it's a touchy topic. I wouldn't go about blindly crossbreeding parrots unless I knew what I was doing. It takes a lot of work - more so than breeding pets for the pet trade and possibly more work than breeding birds for the show circuit.[/b] |
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Sunday May 14, 2006 7:07 am |
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Cheeta
Moderator
Joined: 06 Apr 2005
Posts: 7972
Location: Australia |
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Hi Vampiric Conure.
Welcome to Fluffies. You have a good point in that the saving the species, but it will only work if the hybrid babies are able to reproduce themselves at a later date. Given that there are species of PARROTS (as we are talking about parrots here and not other animals like zebras or even finches) that can be hybridized and the baby is not a sterile bird, but most of the rest of the hookbilled apecies tend to come out sterile, meaning unable to reproduce when they sexually mature. True that hybrid of cockatoos have happened in the wild, but this doesn't happen very often for a reason, the species survival greatly depends on the birds aren't being hybridised. A great example here in that Bare-eyed cockatoo and the rosebreasted cockatoo.. There are quite a few hybrids around from private aviaries, of those, none are sterile to reproduced at a later date. This mean you can't ever breed one of those hybrids. This won't save the endangered species in the parrots world. Just a thought.
Cheers
Bih |
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Sunday May 14, 2006 7:18 am |
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