From Cosmos (15/12/23), an article perhaps a little remote from our usual remit, but so it fascinating it’s worth looking at…
Rare half female, half male bird captured on camera
A zoologist from New Zealand has spotted an extremely rare half female, half male bird while on holiday in Colombia.
The wild green honeycreeper (Chlorophanes spiza) has distinct green female plumage on its left and blue male plumage on its right.
This rare specimen is an example of bilateral gynandromorphy – a condition in which one side of an organism has male characteristics, and the other female.
“Many birdwatchers could go their whole lives and not see a bilateral gynandromorph in any species of bird. The phenomenon is extremely rare in birds, I know of no examples from New Zealand ever,” says Professor Hamish Spencer of the University of Otago, New Zealand.
Spencer was holidaying in Colombia when amateur ornithologist, John Murillo, pointed out the uncommon colouration.
“It is very striking; I was very privileged to see it,” Spencer says.
The finding, which is documented in a report in the Journal of Field Ornithology, is the 2nd example of gynandromorphism in this species in more than 100 years, and the 1st of a living bird.
