Hybrid Pheasants

[Jennsbirds]

Johnsgards fig1. doesn't have them along with 5 others that I know of. Time for a new list maybe one from this century.

Probably. Some pictures aren't showing.

 

[wildlifeartist1]

These pictures are not meant to incite anyone. I understand your concern about extinction. Hybrids are such a dead end in most cases, with a few exceptions...golden/Amherst being one of them. None of my birds have ever been sold to anyone nor would ever have an effect on the purity of the species. Most people would not spend the time or money to raise hybrids. Some of my hybrids have taken 7 years. On a good news point, there are probably 10 times more breeders now than when I first started raising pheasants. With the Internet, there are so many more contacts available to keep pure blood lines maintained.

There are many wild species that are cross-bred, such as in the world of falconry which I was involved in during the late 70's and 80's. They've really taken that to a new level with Harris hawk/Golden eagle and multitudes of falcons from around the world have been crossed. My favorite is the ornate hawk eagle/golden eagle cross.

Other examples of wild hybrids include:

Cats - Bengal and Savannah, are examples of mammal crosses.

Parrots - a lot of macaws are hybrid, along with almost all of the smaller parrots.

Snakes - milks and kings are crossed all the time.

Fish - mainly done by the government, include splake and tiger muskie.

Here are a few more hybrid pictures.

 

[Jennsbirds]

The top and bottom ons are especiallly beautiful. I love how unique eachbird is, like bird versions of rose hybrids.

 

[casuarius]

Evidently alot of people dont understand the danger or refuse to care about the danger of hybrid birds. I myself disagree with hybridation. What is the point of it? The pure/true species is already as beautiful as I desire to see or own. What do many people do with all the hybrids that they produce? They have to run out of room sometime or another, so they sale them usually for more than they are worth....and being a hybrid they arent worth anything in my eyes. So being sold, or distributed, more people end up crossing them and other people cross those offspring until eventually they loose many of their hybrid features and start looking more like the true form. So people end up thinking they are getting the true species, and starts breeding them with true species. This is destroying the genetic lines and wiping true species of Pheasants out in captivity. It is absolutely irresponsible. It seems nearly impossible now to find a true species of Amherst, or Red Golden. Sadly this doesnt end with Pheasants.

 

[maran man]

lets not forget peacock and turkeys as well are being lost from hybrids

 

[Jennsbirds]

Indeed. Hybrid peacocks are bred to keep wild populations up and strong.

And look at how beautiful award winning hybrid roses get and how delicious our hybrid plants are.

Then there's us. Many humans carry genes leftover from when we bred with at least two ancestors of homo erectus. Imagine how silly a 'keep the human race pure' slogan would be.

 

[casuarius]

Indeed. Hybrid peacocks are bred to keep wild populations up and strong.

And look at how beautiful award winning hybrid roses get and how delicious our hybrid plants are.

Then there's us. Many humans carry genes leftover from when we bred with at least two ancestors of homo erectus. Imagine how silly a 'keep the human race pure' slogan would be.

I cant agree with the peafowl thing, but I can some what agree with your other comments. However, Hybridizing roses/plants/fruits/vegetables, etc, is not putting a species at risk of being bred out of existence. Then again, its not hybridizing itself that is the problem.... It is irresponsible people that sale them and continue crossing them. If people want to hybridize birds or animals, then that's they're business, but they should contain their hybrids, and not breed them with more true species and sale them off as true species causing the genetic lines to become impure. Not all do this, but one would be surprised at how many do. I knew one individual that bred dogs for a living, and he made a living out of lying and cheating people by mixing dogs to get what he wanted without spending the money it would have taken to get the pure blooded dogs he needed to breed and sale. He would breed a chihuahua and a long haired pomeranian and sale the pups as long haired chihuahuas. Maybe its a poor example, because all dogs were mixed to get what they are, and not a original species to begin with, but most pheasants are a naturally occurring species.

 

[Jennsbirds]

I cant agree with the peafowl thing, but I can some what agree with your other comments. However, Hybridizing roses/plants/fruits/vegetables, etc, is not putting a species at risk of being bred out of existence. Then again, its not hybridizing itself that is the problem.... It is irresponsible people that sale them and continue crossing them. If people want to hybridize birds or animals, then that's they're business, but they should contain their hybrids, and not breed them with more true species and sale them off as true species causing the genetic lines to become impure. Not all do this, but one would be surprised at how many do. I knew one individual that bred dogs for a living, and he made a living out of lying and cheating people by mixing dogs to get what he wanted without spending the money it would have taken to get the pure blooded dogs he needed to breed and sale. He would breed a chihuahua and a long haired pomeranian and sale the pups as long haired chihuahuas. Maybe its a poor example, because all dogs were mixed to get what they are, and not a original species to begin with, but most pheasants are a naturally occurring species.

None of that makes any sense.

Yes, you'd get different dog breeds. Thaat's why new dog breeds are cropping up all the time, like goloden noodles, and a ver specific type of hunting dog made out of a mix of twelve other breeds. German shepards were too purebred and neary went extinct, sothey were mixed to preserve the look.

But that's dogs, which can breed and have more pupppies. Hybrid pheasants can't do that. That's like saying a steer will make all your cows have calves. That's take some serious hocus pocus to pull off. If you can do that, why waste your magic on pheasants?

 

[De Wet]

this is a wildlife shame not a wildlife artist the wildlife artist the creator of all things finish the job He is the true wildlife artist. The next threat maybe you gone to see on this forum is"ostrich crossbreed with a button quail"

 

[casuarius]

None of that makes any sense.

Yes, you'd get different dog breeds. Thaat's why new dog breeds are cropping up all the time, like goloden noodles, and a ver specific type of hunting dog made out of a mix of twelve other breeds. German shepards were too purebred and neary went extinct, sothey were mixed to preserve the look.

But that's dogs, which can breed and have more pupppies. Hybrid pheasants can't do that. That's like saying a steer will make all your cows have calves. That's take some serious hocus pocus to pull off. If you can do that, why waste your magic on pheasants?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_hybrid maybe you need to read this. If Hybrid pheasants can't reproduce then how do we have several colorations of Goldens? Which are all the result of crossing a Amherst Pheasant with a true Red Golden. Same thing with crossing a Kalij with a Silver...a Siamese Fireback with a Borneo/Malay Fireback... Temmincks Tragopan with any other species of Tragopan...the offspring can reproduce. Same thing goes for Peafowl, im very skeptical of who I buy my Java Greens from now, because its so common that they have been crossed up. Many people I visit that thinks they have Java Greens actually do not...its a bit sad. Like I said, whoever wants to produce Hybrid birds, thats their business, but there are some still out here who like to preserve the species. Im simply stating the danger that Hybrids can and certainly have caused, and its not because they were produced, but all because people are irresponsible with them. And yes... Some Hybrids cannot reproduce.