half male, half female Northern Cardinal

[John Chardine]

I follow Jerry Coyne's blog. Here's a very interesting bird article.

http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2012/09/04/a-gynandromorph-cardinal-one-half-male-the-other-half-female/

[Robert Doiron]

That is pretty amazing! I wonder how many times this "gynandromorph” condition as been documented in birds.

[Paul Guris]

Robert, while not common, it has actually been documented multiple times in the U.S. alone. A presentation given at the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club showed several examples, including a fantastic shot of a Rose-breasted Grosbeak caught at a banding station one spring.

[John Chardine]

I didn't know that Paul. Thanks.

[Paul Guris]

John, if you do a Google image search for "gynandromorph bird", you get a few interesting examples including more than one Cardinal, a Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and an Evening Grosbeak. Interesting that 3 big beaked birds that are relatively close in heritage pop up. Makes you wonder if there's a group more prone to this than other, though the program had a photo of one warbler.

Amazing stuff.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I've seen this before...quite fascinating!